Ranma of the Shield
by fanboy913
Summary: Weird things happen all the time but for Ranma they are often a bit stranger. Pulled away from his chaotic life in Japan he finds himself a standing in a world on the edge of destruction. Follow his adventures there as he saves a country that thinks he is a devil shows this world what damage a martial artist can do. And for the first time in his life attract women that dont hit him
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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Hey so there is the light novel out called tate no yuusha no nariagari and it is a really good really fun read and I found myself wondering what would happen if Ranma had been sucked into it as the main character .

If you want to read the light novel go to Baka Tsuki they have a good chunk of it up and translated.

so without further ado behold Ranma Of The Shield

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"Ranma You Jerk!" Akane howled.

Crap, he thought, flinching slightly as a mallet rocketed towards his head. What the hell had he done now? Granted most of the time this happened he was usually saying something stupid and insensitive. Of course it was his opinion that being hit in the head for an insensitive word was a bit much. Any normal person would have died instantly from the blunt force trauma of her blow. She might not have been in the same level as him or Ryoga or even Shampoo, but her strength was close.

But seriously, what the hell had he done? He was reading a freaking book for crying out loud, The Weapons of the Four Saints, author unknown. He was literally just sitting there with his mouth closed. The book was just starting with a prophecy about four heroes who would save the world and the weapons they would use, the sword, the lance, the bow, and the shield.

"This author must have had strange ideas about martial arts to consider a Shield a weapon," he thought. Within the Anything Goes style anything could be a weapon but few other styles considered the shield a weapon in its own right.

*BLAM*

The hammer smashed into his temple and he vaguely heard the girl yelling at him about reading perverted literature. "What!" he yelled back as he reached the peak of his five hundred foot climb. Why would she think that?

The book in his hand opened to black pages, "Well that's a waste," he thought, "I was kind of looking forward too...wait, is the black page expanding?"

His danger senses started buzzing as he felt the unmistakable sensation of magic, gods know he had enough life experience with the stuff to notice the way it felt. But currently flying as he was and about to begin a long, eventually painful, descent to earth, he was in no good position to do anything about it. He crossed his arms defensively, letting go of the book.

The blankness expanded and he was about a foot into his descent when his ass hit marble. His entire body stiffened in shock at the unexpected stop to his descent. He was up on his feet instantly barely avoiding falling over from the disorientation. He was standing in a throne room, just like some of those foreign history texts described. The floor was marble with a red carpet that led forward. There were twelve pillars supporting the room with banners hanging from them majestically. Around him were several men in long robes and more than a few men in armor armed with spears.

Instinct instilled into his core centered his body's stance, his arms raised in preparation for combat. That was when he saw his right arm, OK his day was officially off kilter now. Sudden magic he could deal with. Fiancée kidnapping demigods were par for the course now-a-days, along with a certain forever lost boy demanding a fight, when he wasn't too busy bathing with Akane as P-chan. But finding a shield that had not been there before, and what's more to find it fused to his arm, that was really weird. He shook his arm a little and confirmed his observation about trying to remove it and whirled about moving the shield defensively.

There were three other people standing there, one of which held a sword in his hands looking somewhat confused. He was perhaps near the same age as Ranma with dark black hair that gave him a Bishōnen look that many girls found attractive. He wore a dark jacket and black turtleneck along with dark colored slacks. The sword in his hand was ornate with a blue gem at its hilt and gold trim and outlines along the blade, shaft and hilt. Strangely Ranma noted the boy's eyes matched the gem in his blade.

Next to him was a smiling lightly blonde haired boy who did not look put out by his current situation. He was slightly taller than then the dark haired sword user and wore a uniform similar to the upper class high school students that Ranma had seen. Across his back was a bow with inlay similar to the sword but with a yellow gem fused into its core. Like the other boy beside him his eyes were an unnatural yellow matching the gem in the bow.

The third boy was taller than all of them, looking closer to an adult than a teen. His hair was longer than normal hanging about him in a playboy style. He seemed quite calm about the situation and had a gold inlaid spear with a red gem at the base of the head. And like the other two his eyes matched the gem's color.

Ranma risked a glance down at the shield now attached to his arm, it was in the medieval French style with a wide top, thick center, and a pointed end. Strangely the way the shield was positioned on his hand was awkward. It would be really easy to punch something with it but to use it for defense he would have to treat it like part of his arm. Which strangely worked well, if it came to a fight his arm was now a much better defensive object. Speaking of objects the shield was inlay with gold like the rest of the weapons here. Its ends were outlined in black with two lines going horizontally out to almost surrounded a large palm sized green gem. The marble floor was polished to shine and in its reflection Ranma could see his own eyes, no longer blue but green as the gem on this weapon.

Quietly so no one could hear he muttered, "What the fuck?"

The boys behind him were talking calmly as if this was just an everyday occurrence and not a sudden shift of reality. A man approached them, he wore robes similar to the men around them but his head was uncovered and a circlet of gold was around his brow. "Hero saints of old" he said loudly and dramatically.

"Please don't say it" Ranma thought, suddenly understanding a bit about his situation. If the words he expected were coming he was not going to be able to do the sensible thing and find out how to get home as quickly as possible.

"Please save our world!"

Ranma face palmed and groaned, "Crap."

The man speaking to him seemed either not to see him or just ignored his actions, "While I'm certain you are all very taken aback by your circumstances time runs short for us. Within our country of Melromarc vicious demons in large numbers have crawled out from a materialized dimensional crack and are exposing everyone to great danger!" The man took a breath and continued, "Our countries knights and adventures barely managed to eliminate the first wave of demons, but the hourglass is already indicating the next wave of calamities will soon be upon us."

Ranma looked at the man, he was clearly desperate, his voice being high and strained. The man it seemed was afraid, deathly afraid of the things he was describing. "A martial artist protects the weak" echoed his pa's voice. The old man had not given him many good things besides martial arts and that one expression. In fact, unlike some people seemed to believe, Ranma was well aware the man was a terrible parent, a horrible role model and a complete hypocrite. But that one phrase still stuck with him even if the old man had been manipulating him, he still believed those words, he still lived his life by them.

And now here he was apparently summoned to another world, a plot right out of a manga to save it from encroaching darkness. "Protect the weak" above all else, above going home, above honor, above his own life itself he would fulfill his duty as a martial artist.

But fucking hell, since when was the chaos in his life strong enough to get him sent to another world!? At the forefront of the room a man sat on his throne, dressed in regal attire with a crown atop his head. He had remained silent as the man in robes had spoken but as that man finished his voice rolled over the room. Hell, Ranma thought, they probably built the room so that his voice would echo over the whole of it.

"I am this country's king Aultcray, the thirty second ruler of Melromarc. Should you save this glorious country you will be duly compensated."

"Country" Ranma thought. "What happened to the world saving part?"

"I have aid funds prepared for you. I ask that you work to your fullest," the man paused looking over them. Perhaps Ranma imagined it but he swore that he felt an instant of killing instinct as the King's eyes passed over him.

"Now then heroes, I will now hear of your names."

The dark haired one answered first. "My name is Amaki Ren, age 16, high schooler"

The bow wielding blond stated, "I'm Kawasuki Itsuki, 17 years old, I'm in high school as well"

The taller blond spear wielder answered in a casual voice while extensively eyeing several of the ladies in the room, "My name is Kitamura Motoyasu and I'm a university student."

"Heroes of the Sword, Bow, and Spear, those called Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu, be welcome in my court."

Ranma had been opening his mouth to say something but the king had continued on as if he was not there. He narrowed his eyes but did nothing, he could feel something was off. The way the king had spoken had deliberately cut him off, and he could sense the uneasy eyes on him from the men in the cloaks. A glance at the guards told him that they were watching and waiting to move if he did something threatening. Strange way to treat someone you summoned to save you.

The man in the gold circlet spoke up again "Now if everyone could please confirm their statuses?"

Ranma stayed quiet as two of the "Heroes" asked what he had been thinking, "Status?"

"You haven't noticed it by now?" the dark haired boy asked "Don't you see some kind of icon in your field of vision?"

The gender bending martial artist felt a stab of humility pierce him, he had been so focused on everyone else he had failed to see a little floating picture of himself that appeared when he turned his head. Ok this world was getting stranger and stranger. "Now you just concentrate you consciousness on it," Ren finished.

That part was easy, a large screen as if from a futuristic three dimensional hologram appeared before him. To the top right there was a picture of him with his age and gender above it, strangely the hologram had cursed written beside the gender. Which meant this status screen acknowledged his Jusenkyo curse, especially as his gender was listed as Male/Female.

Below the picture of himself, green eyes and all, were the words Positions with an arrow next to it, Skills below that, Magic below that and Help below that. Next to that column was another column that read Status Affects. Under it was written several things: Anything Goes Circular KI Technique, Anything Goes Way of the Monkey Status, Neko Ken Forbidden Technique, and Permanent Curse of the Drowned Girl.

Ranma blinked twice and touched the first status affect. "The Anything Goes Circular KI Technique is the result of the moxibustion status being inflicted on the individual. By taking the bodies KI, save just enough to survive, the energy is placed in an endless loop within the body. After a time the loop becomes permanent whether or not the moxibustion had been lifted. This KI loop encourages body and KI growth within the individual. Also has the side effect of making one not only immune to the moxibustion curse but any curse that would sap strength as well."

Ranma did not speak but in his mind he was screaming "That freaking perverted old man was training me that whole time?!"

Deep breaths, deep breaths, he got out of that screen and touched the second one, "The Anything Goes Way of the Monkey is the core tenet of the style. It is this mental state in which the user of Anything Goes copies enemy stances and techniques. Once a practitioner of the Anything Goes style achieves this status he or she is given the first rank of master."

*Eye twitch* "I was already a master and they never told me!" he said causing the three heroes and most of the people around him to give him a strange look.

Crap he had said that out loud. Well so what, he pushed the title Neko Ken Forbidden Technique. "A ritual in which a bestial spirit of the wild is summoned by the pain of a child and enters a symbiotic relationship with the host. Warning: Only an evil bastard or a complete moron would actually do this, due to not only the agony inflicted on the child for the ritual, but the high chance the child will be taken over by the beast. This technique gives the user a pathological fear of cats, increased XP growth, increased body growth and increased KI growth as well as KI potency."

Ranma took a deep breath and said nothing pushing the last status effect. "Permanent Curse of the Drowned Girl. This is a permanent curse in which cold water changes the user to a girl and warm water changes them back. Warning: Only a deity level being can remove this curse as there are no cures, you better get used to it. Warning: Stats of the genders may be different."

"Smart ass help system," he muttered.

Above the status conditions was his name, the words Shield Hero LV 1, and the Equipment slot which had the words "Small Shield(Legendary Weapon)." And last but not least below that to the far left was a Hexagon with words written at each point. Attack was on the top, Defense was to its left, below defense was HP, and at the bottom of the hexagon opposite from Attack was the letters MP. To MP's right was the word Intelligence, with Agility above that, and coming full circle back to Attack.

The hexagon was white filled in with blue to inform the person just what their current status was. Ranma wondered if his was broken, everything was filled in with blue save for a very sharp dip in Intelligence and a dip to the half-way point in Agility. Other than that Attack was maxed, Defence was maxed, HP was maxed, MP was, Ranma frowned as the status of MP changed, a slash appearing next to it with the word KI. OK so MP/KI was maxed.

He noticed beside the hexagon was two arrows bent into a circle. He touched it and the hexagon flipped over, a word flashing over the top saying "Girl Side." Attack dipped to about half way and HP took a moderate hit but Agility and Intelligence were suddenly maxed out.

Well that kind of made sense, he well knew his girl from was weaker but faster. However he did not remember feeling any smarter or perhaps there was a joke here he was missing.

He had pretty much ignored what was around him. The three "Heroes" next to him had been talking about games or being rewarded for their future efforts or something, he had not really paid attention.

"Hey you have a shield," Itsuki said.

Ranma looked up, eyebrow raised. "Well that's too bad," the older one Motoyasu said.

"Who would do that?" the bow hero asked.

But before anything else would be spoken the king stood.

The king smiled at them. "They are many people who have volunteered to join you on your journeys, you will grow and strengthen your legendary weapons with them. We are in the process of gathering them right now."

That did not make sense. "Wait" Ranma said, he had allowed just a hint of his KI to enter his voice and the sound, while not oppressing, was heard by all.

Another time there was the smallest flash on killing instinct but the king asked "Yes, Hero of the Shield?"

"If you summoned us to fight against some wave of demons, and I assume we are going to fight them together, would it not make more sense for us to learn how to fight together?"

The other three nodded slightly at his statement "Ah were it only so easy Shield, you see the legendary weapons, if near each other for long amounts of time, impede the growth of each other."

"Their sentient?" Ranma asked.

The king shrugged "That is still being argued in the academies." Before Ranma could ask anything else the king smoothly interrupted him. "The sun is already beginning to set. Brave Ones, please take your time and rest for the day. You may depart for your journey tomorrow. During that time I shall finish making arrangements and scout for talented individuals who can accompany you on your destiny."

Well that sounded all well and nice but if they were summoning them why weren't those people already on hand? He thought about it for a moment and made his best guess, they were not sure if this was going to work.

Several cute servant girls came up to them and led them off to their quarters, the spear guy shamelessly flirted with them, and the girls did not seem to mind. They did however give him a wider berth than was normal. Nothing in their faces said anything but they would quickly look away if he tried to lock eyes with them. And not in the, this guy is hot kind of way, but the, please you're scaring me, kind of way.

The guest room was huge with three beds set up and a fourth one being hurriedly put together. Again as if they had not expected a fourth. The three people with him did not say anything, not that Ranma could blame them. A bed, while nice, was not something he needed to rest. He grabbed a pillow from it and went to lie down on the floor, much to the servants shock.

But that did not matter, he opened his status window and immediately started exploring, first the weapon. Its description was interesting. The legendary weapon did not require maintenance, and it could absorb different raw materials to grow in strength. He scrolled over to the help section to look up what raw materials constituted as, "Monster parts like skin, meat, eyes, special sections like tails or wings. Also crafting items, rare materials, hair, blood..." the list went on for quite a bit. So it meant potentially anything could be absorbed by the shield or at least it was best to try most things.

He went back to the weapon and touched the icon twice, a list of branching names filled his vision, hundreds of different types of shields. "What the hell am I going to do with all of them?" Ranma wondered. Ah there was a description, "Each weapon transformation changes the users weapon, it can grant equipment bonus, and special abilities, when the requirements are met each weapon has a true power that when unsealed gives the user a permanent boost of some kind."

Ranma went back to the main screen and touched the skill section, lots of words came up most of them things like "Medicine Level - N/A" most of the skills there had that "Not Available" symbol next to them. Skills like crafting wood, crafting metal, and various other ones. But several were much different, such as "Martial Arts - Grandmaster."

His self-confidence glowed at that statement, after all he had killed a demi-god, he deserved some recognition. "Of course" his common sense said "You had a huge amount of help had you been by yourself you would have been ashes."

"Right" he muttered, in his world he probably was a grandmaster of Anything Goes, he had surpassed his dad long ago but he was still a decent length behind Happosai. Looking at this skill list and actually seeing how little he knew beyond martial arts, it was certainly thought provoking.

He touched the Martial Arts skill, it went into another screen where it listed most of his techniques and moves. "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) was there, Hiryü Shöten Ha (Ascending Dragon Strike) was there and Moko Takabisha (Pride of the Fierce Tiger). There was more to the listing than that but there were several pages of permanent stat bonuses and growth boosts that he decided to skip them. He knew his own strength and it seemed this world did too.

Though perhaps he should branch out a little, maybe learn a bit of magic to see if he could find a reasonable way of defending against it. And medicine, heaven knew he needed it enough, granted KI increased body recovery and he had been working on something to see if he could heal others with his KI, but that was a work in progress.

"Excuse me," someone said.

Ranma turned away from the status screen and it faded back to the icon. The black haired boy Ren was standing over him, Ranma put one hand against the floor and pushed. His body flew up so that he was standing on his feet. "Yes?"

He had to give the kid credit, he did not seem surprised at all at Ranma's strangeness. "I never got your name."

"Ranma, Ranma Saotome"

They shook hands, "Ren Amaki." After a moment, "You probably were not listening but we were just discussing how we were summoned."

"Ah, guess it was pretty weird"

"Yes and it gets stranger. As far as I and the others can tell," the other two nodded at him, "we are all from different Japans."

"What?"

"We all know of different Prime Ministers, we all played different popular games that the others have ever heard of, bands, dates, years, they don't match up."

"So we are all from Japan...but we are all from different Japans...why in the hell would they waste so much energy grabbing four different people from four different realities?" Ranma mused

They shrugged, no clearer on that than he was. "I actually wanted to ask you something about your Japan."

"It probably won't help, I don't know who the Prime Minister is, I don't play video games, I never even had a TV and school was a piece of crap. So really all I know is martial arts."

All three eyes got the "Is this guy an idiot" look in them but he ignored it with long practice, he had seen it in Akane's eyes often enough.

"Hm, I see. Well at least tell us how you got here."

"Summoning, same as you"

"No I mean what happened before then."

Ranma frowned, "Does that have something to do with it?"

Ren shrugged "I don't know, my childhood friend was attacked by a serial killer, I stopped him but" he grabbed his side "I blinked once, the next thing I knew I was here."

Ranma looked the boy over once again "Is the scar still there?"

Ren nodded lifting his shirt, the scar started at just under the rib cage and went down. Ranma asked, "Do you mind if I take a look at it?"

The boy frowned but nodded, upon closer inspection he saw it "Ah, the knife went up and an angle and got the heart, then was ripped down taking some of your insides with it."

*Shrug* "I guess."

"How did you stop him?"

"What?"

"If this knife was in you, several seconds was all you could have had. There are only so many things you could have done in that time to take him down."

Ren said nothing. "You're no martial artist" Ranma said with certainty "You were probably using both hands to struggle against it, you tackled him?"

The boy sighed "I tackled him and fell on the knife,"

"Alright so how did you stop him?"

"I...I, I tore his" For the first time a little bit of green made its way to his face.

Ranma held up a hand "Ok, I understand"

The green faded. "Dying to protect someone else, doing whatever you have to do to protect someone else. I respect that."

Ranma held out his hand again and the Sword hero gave him a strange look before shaking it again. This time Ranma gave him a real shake which had the boy winching as he pulled away.

"So how did you two end up here?"

Motoyasu scratched the back of his head "I'm here because I got stabbed too."

They waited for him to explain and he gave an uncomfortable laugh "Um, I got stabbed because one girlfriend found about about my second girlfriend and did not take it too well."

"You were dating two women at the same time?"

"Um, ya."

"...I'm not gonna say you deserved to die over that because you didn't, but that was a dick move."

"Hey," he snapped, "I can't help it if the ladies love me."

Moving on, the archer Itsuki gave an uncomfortable laugh "Um, I think I got ran over when a dump truck took a sharp turn."

"So all three of you should be dead?"

They looked at each other and shrugged. "Probably, what's your story?"

Hm...how to explain that, I was hit five hundred feet into the air while reading a book and I'm pretty sure I would have survived the landing...

"I was reading a book."

"What?" they all said at the same time.

"I know. Weird stuff happens to me like that all the time."

Ranma immediately noted the sudden shift in group dynamic, the three of them had found a common bond in how they got here. Whereas he did not, or was there perhaps because of something more. "Earlier you said that's too bad when you saw I had a shield, what did you mean?"

The oldest Motoyasu frowned at the other two. "Where I come from there's a game called Emerald Online Shields. People who use shields as their main weapon usually have great defense but their low attack means that it does not matter. They normally die a lot."

Remembering his status screen Ranma thought that attack was not going to be a problem, but if it made these people underestimate him that was fine. He did not expect to fight them but who knew.

"In fact it's a totally pitiful class when pitted against bosses and even common mobs."

"Why would there be mobs after us?"

"...right, never played video games. Mobs are groups of monsters people use to grind experience."

"Ah"

A servant walked in "Brave Hero's your meal has been prepared."

"Oh good," now that he thought about it he was hungry.

They were led to a great hall where huge amounts of food had been placed on a banquet table. Ranma moved passed the cooks and then, to surprise and seeming shock of all, stated piling food on a plate. "Um Hero-sama" one of the cooks said, "You don't have to eat the same food as everyone else, we have special food prepared for you."

Well that sounded nice, Ranma followed the man but did not relinquish his plate, after all he was starving.

The meal was good but then again anyone who survived Akane's food was able to eat raw meat with no immediate or lasting health problems so perhaps he was not the best judge in the world.

The evening ended with them stuffed and ready to sleep, "I suppose its time to hit the sack. We'll begin our journey tomorrow, so let's give it our best."

Everyone nodded at Motoyasu's words and went to bed, though Ranma stayed up a bit longer going over the help section. He quickly found something very important, apparently the legendary weapons could not be used in conjunction with other weapons. It did not apply to his own body but it meant he could not use a sword and shield or any other combination. Very strange, perhaps that was why he was chosen for the shield. His lifestyle had forged him into someone who did not need weapons to cause damage.

Another important and very annoying fact that he found was that, according to the help section on location, the letters of this world were different from the letters of his world. The legendary weapons translated words so there wielders could function, but nothing more. Fun, fun, fun. To read in his world he had been forced to teach himself. His pa had skipped most of the elementary education in favor of martial arts training. Ranma was determined not to get fooled by any other written contracts that had made his life hell and would learn on his own.

His clothing had been placed on the floor and he reached down to one of the pockets. He had spent a great deal of time in China and out of force of habit had started carrying around a basic Chinese to Japanese guide book just to make sure his pa was not screwing him over when he said a word Ranma did not understand.

The small pocket guide was still there apparently unaffected by the trans-dimensional warp, the book was not going to be of use here unless... He placed it on the shield still attached to his arm and wouldn't you know it worked.

There was a flash of light, the book vanished, and a voice spoke in his head "Requirements for the Rosetta Shield Unsealed."

Rosetta Shield

True Power Sealed ... Equipment Bonus: Language Learning 5 ... Special Ability: Language Guide Book

The shield on his arm had turned into a book, and the thing had flipped so the book was on the inside of his arm not the outside. He opened it and took a look, it started with the alphabet showing what letter here corresponded with the Japanese he was used to. The book had lots of chapters that each seemed to be lessons on how best to learn.

And if he guessed right the shield itself while in this form would help him learn faster. Not a useful battle shield for sure but he had a feeling that it was going to be really important later. Too bad he did not have a comic of that American super hero Captain America, perhaps it would have changed the shield into that.

With a chuckle to himself he willed the shield back to its Small Shield form and closed his eye. People back home were probably worried about now, but they would have to wait. "A Martial Artists duty is to protect the weak." This world had summoned him to protect them and his own life demanded that he at least try and do so. Besides, he needed a vacation anyway. Hopefully this would not be a permanent one, though doubt was in his mind. After all the other three were dead in their world. What if he couldn't go back?

He swiped at the air once. No matter, he had work to do and first thing he needed was a good nights sleep. Yes, sleep and then find out how this whole experience system worked.

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well hope you liked it, have a good day, fanboy out. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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I'm having fun with this one right now

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The servants led them to the throne room after they had been fed breakfast. The doors opened to the audience chamber to reveal twelve people standing in front of the king. There were men and women decked in different armors and robes, with hands holding various weaponry.

"Heroes," the king said, "As promised yesterday, I have recruited companions who will accompany you on your journey. Apparently, everyone gathered has already decided which hero they wish to follow."

"It would make more sense to divide them up evenly, but then again this was a different world," Ranma thought.

"Now then future champions, please set forth with the hero you choose."

The warriors moved to their chosen hero. Ren the Sword Hero got five, Motoyasu the Spear Hero got four and Itsuki the Bow Hero got three. Which left him with nothing, "…sigh…" Given what Motoyasu had said about the shield being weak it made sense that most would gravitate to whom they considered the strongest. But still, there should have at least been one or two curious enough to try.

There was an awkward silence as people noticed what had happened and must have been waiting for him to say something. Well what could he say, the people had made it clear that they did not want to fight with him. It was not like he wanted someone forced along with him and fighting alone was not exactly a new way of doing things for himself.

The silence stretched on as he said nothing and tension started to mount. "We-well. Dear me, I would never have thought such a situation could occur," the king stated breaking the silence.

Ranma rolled his eyes, "I'm fine."

"…what?"

"I said I'm fine, I'll fight alone. It's not a problem."

That brought a fresh round of silence, most of the adventures probably afraid they would be forced to pair with him sighed in relief. However Ren spoke up, "I would not advise that especially given your weapon."

"Yuusha-sama, I'll accompany the shield hero instead."

A women who had rushed over to the spear hero, moved away from the pretty boy and made her way over to him. She was shorter than him with semi long crimson hair braided up in an ornate band. She looked perhaps one or two years older than him and her eyes and voice sparkling with enthusiasm. In fact she looked and sounded like Nabiki back when she had falsely declared her love for him in such a way that it fooled everyone for a second.

Nabiki, why did this girl make him think of Nabiki?

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"It would be unthinkable to leave a newly summoned hero alone in a new world."

Again he felt like he did whenever he spent time with Nabiki, nerves perhaps?

The king asked again if anyone else would join him, no one did. "Unfortunately Shield it appears you will have to scout additional talent for yourself, but fret not I will give you a bonus on your monthly war fund."

So he was getting paid for this too, well that was cool. A servant distributed four pouches one for each of them. "Eight hundred silver coins," he was told.

Well that helped but besides food what was he supposed to do with the rest. "I am Mein Sophia" she told him as the king dismissed them. "Ranma Saotome" he replied holding out his hand.

She hesitated for a moment but shook his hand all the same. "How well do you know the area?" he asked.

"Very well."

"Then show me where I can start fighting."

Her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Um Shield-sama, should you not get better equipped first?"

So that was what the money was for. Well weapons would be a lost cause since the shield would not allow that. Armor was too heavy and would mess with his movement style, unless. "Can you show me the way?"

"Of course."

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She led him out of the castle and into the surrounding city. The place looked good, cobble stone streets, signs hanging from the doors, running sewers, clean air. It was something right out of a fantasy novel, "This way. I'll lead you to the best weapon shop in town."

"The legendary weapon won't allow me to use other weapons," he told her. "So that would be pointless."

"Oh, I did not know. My apologies."

"No problem."

"Well he does sell armor too so perhaps that?"

"Depends" he answered as she led on.

She led him into a store with wall-to-wall weapons and armor, each looking like well crafted equipment. The shop owner cheerfully greeted them as they entered the shop. "Welcome."

He was a big man and well muscled. The muscle development looked thicker along his right arm consistent with a blade smith. The man must make everything himself to be that buff.

"Oh, a first time customer. It seems that you came in without knowing what you're looking for."

Ranma shrugged, not quite true but he'd roll with it.

"That is why I brought him here" she said with a simle.

"Thanks a lot, Mein-chan."

"No problem. It's simply that Oyaji's shop is famous around here."

"Oh ma'am, you're flattering me. But isn't the outfit of your boyfriend over there a bit weird?"

"We're not together," Ranma corrected out of reflex.

They both flinched at how fast he had said that. "Sorry" he said "She is helping me prepare for the wave."

"This is the hero of the shield Oyaji," she told the man.

The man looked him up and down like he was examining a blade, "A hero?" He looked him over again. "You look like you have some training."

Understatement, he nodded "Yes, I have some training."

"I see, well what can I do for you?"

Mein looked like she was about to speak, "I'm looking for armor but not the normal kind," he told the smith slash store owner.

"Oh?"

"I don't need heavy armor, I don't want light armor either. With the way I fight they would be a detriment, the heavy armor for the weight, the light armor for the lack of flexibility. What I need is clothing that counts as armor if such a thing even exists."

The shopkeeper stared at him strangely. "I would not suggest such a thing. There are clothing sets with magical properties to resist things better, but they are not as good as even the lightest armor and twice as expensive."

"So you do have some."

"Yes but…"

"May I see them?"

"…ok."

The man went to the back room and the girl turned to him, "Hero-sama are you sure? Given that your weapon does not have high Attack it might not be wise."

She was thinking with this world's logic and he could understand where she was coming from but he knew his own limits. "Trust me" he told her.

The shopkeeper returned with a set of dark clothing, the pants were black with a vest of the same color. The right side of the pants had a length of leather that covered the leg even more and was held in place by a band of leather sewn into the left hip. On the right side there was sleeve with a pauldron attached to the shoulder, while the left arm was bare from the shoulder down. Two black gloves that covered the forearm were also included.

"This was commissioned by a noble with strange tastes in fashion, he died before he could pick it up and it's been in the store room ever since. This has been magicked to increase the user's Agility by a small amount and to grant slight resistance to slashing, stabbing, and blunt force. It has a small resistance to every element and it can repair damage to a small degree."

Ranma blinked, "That's a lot of enchantments."

The shopkeeper nodded. "Cloth has the property to take in a lot of enchantments but individually they cannot be pushed very far."

"How much?"

"Now I already got paid to create it, so I'll give a discount since it would be good to get rid of it. Four hundred silver."

Mein pursed her lips but said nothing as Ranma paid the man. "You can use the changing room over there."

"Thank you Oyaji-san," he said as he entered the room and moved to change his clothing. The outfit felt good, the open sleeve was especially good for his shield arm as it made things easier to get on. He glanced at himself in the small mirror set in the room, this clothing looked as if he had seen its like before. Something from the cover of a movie called Advent Children, though he could not remember the specifics of the picture and decided that it did not matter.

As he stepped out he noted the annoyed look on Mein's face but it vanished underneath a smile as he stepped out. "You look good Ranma-sama," she told him.

"Ranma is just fine" he told her.

"Ah, as you wish Ranma."

"That looks surprisingly intimidating on you" the shopkeeper said. "I hope it serves you well."

They gave their farewells to the shop owner and exited the shop. "You are a strange one Ranma," Mein told him as she led the way towards a large gate.

"If you stay with me you'll get used to it, by the way where are we headed?"

"I was thinking Ranma should engage in some mock battles with lower class demons to see your combat potential."

"Fighting huh, that sounds fun."

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The grasslands were wide and vast. Over the plain he could make out the shapes of people and creatures, some of which were fighting each other. As they walked out one of the strange creatures floated over the ground towards them. "It's an Orange Balloon Ranma, one of the lowest monsters however it is very aggressive."

The thing was a round orange ball with a mouth and eyes and that was pretty much it. He just stared at it as the thing leapt at him, mouth open. With an almost nonchalant movement he caught the thing by its face, forcing the mouth closed. The thing struggled a little but its strength was no match for his own. Holding it for a moment he shrugged and squeezed, and wouldn't you know they exploded just like a real balloon when popped. "1 Exp, 1 copper"

"Money falls out of these things?" Ranma asked incredulously.

Mein shrugged, "Of course how else do adventures make their money."

He pressed the balloon corpse against the shield, and just like it had done with his translation guide, the shield absorbed the skin, and then informed him in a pop up that he needed ten more balloon skins to unlock the Balloon Shield. There was several growling sounds as a whole mess of orange balloon's burst forth from a bush that should not have been able to hold that many.

"Hero-sama look out!" Mein called just a bit too far away to react immediately.

"Ki becomes speed, it hardens the bone, strengthens the muscle. From this idea is born the power to strike, from the strike is born Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken"

Those thoughts rolled through his head swift as a bolt of thunder, a reminder of what he was capable of. To the eyes of anyone watching he stood up. If any high level adventurer happened to be in the area, and had a focus on the stat of Agility, they might have been able to see fists blur at impossible speeds.

But to those watching Ranma stood up and nine balloons exploded. Mein was speechless and confused looking around for a mage or someone to explain what had happened. Ranma on the other hand was counting, "…eight, nine, huh, that's convenient." So he got nine more xp points and nine more copper and enough balloon skins to unseal the Balloon Shield.

Requirements for the Balloon Shield Unsealed.

True Power Sealed…Equipment Bonus: Defense Boost…Special Effect: None

The shield changed from the Small Shield to a rounded orange shield with an almost rubber like quality to the touch. "This is really, really, cool," Ranma said as he looked at his new found shield.

"Hero-sama what happened?"

He pursed his lips, it cost him nothing to tell her what happened, but something about this girl reminded him of Nabiki. Something he could not place his finger on. Several times he had told Nabiki something thinking it would cost him nothing only to find it used against him later. So he shrugged, "Not sure, maybe a wizard did it."

They stayed out there for a few hours longer, killing different kinds of weak balloon's. By absorbing several different color balloons he discovered the Balloon Shield's true power…it could change color. And no it did not do anything more to the stats of the shield.

He made a note to find out more about the true power of shields, despite the balloon shield's being not very useful he was willing to bet that others would be much better. "Exp gained 32, copper gained 32"

Ranma Lvl 2

The level up was the strangest thing he had ever experienced. His stats went up by numbers of 11, 12, and 10 in respective categories. His Defense received a 12, his Attack an 11, MP/KI 10 along with his HP, Intelligence 1, Agility 2. He flipped the thing over to girl side and noted that Intelligence was now 12, Agility was 11, while Attack was 1 and HP was 2.

It went against everything he had ever learned, to increase the bodies prowess was long, hard and grueling work, it was not a matter of fighting opponents until a bar told him he reached a new level. But for this world that was exactly what is was, not that he was going to slack off in his training, hell perhaps training would give exp too.

They returned to town and Mein led him to an inn where he bought them rooms and a meal. Mein than produced a map, "The best way to begin in this country is to travel here to Raffan where there is a novice dungeon outside its limits."

"Why would we want to go to a dungeon?"

"…because that is where monsters live who give good exp."

"Oh, then where do you put criminals?"

The girl stared at him for a moment. "Oh that's what you meant, sorry I forgot, yes there are dungeons for criminals but they are mostly inside of the town or city limits. Anything outside can generally be considered a monster dungeon."

Ranma nodded, more information about this world was good information. One of the waiters delivered them a bottle of wine. Ranma shook his head, "No thank you."

Mein gave the man a coin and took the bottle pouring herself a glass, "You don't like wine Ranma?"

"Never touched the stuff, I saw what it did to my dad and despite how funny it was to watch I never want to be like that."

"…I see."

That conversation seemed to end the night and Ranma went to his room. He planned to sleep with his new clothing on, after all one never knew. He glanced at the bag of silver coins at his side, should he?

When traveling with his pa one always had to keep it hidden lest the old man sniff it out and steal it in the name of training. So…why not. He slipped out of his window on the second floor and spent several minutes finding stones and pebbles of appropriate weight. Slipping back into his room he emptied the coins into a makeshift sack made of his old clothing and placed the rocks and pebbles in the coin bag, covering the top with ten silver coins so that if someone peeked in there it would look real in the dark.

That done he laid down on the bed, frowned and moved to the floor pulling a pillow after him. He then followed his evening ritual of meditation, which he was not very good at, until he fell asleep. It was a myth that one needed to be cross-legged to mediate, the action was possible from any position and while doing any action, Ranma preferred to do so while lying down.

To his amusement the status screen popped up as he did so, "New Skill – Meditation: Intermediate. Meditation increases MP/KI recovery and encourages healing."

"That was cool," he thought as he drifted off to the world of dreams. Given what he knew of this world by the time he made it home he was going to be able to kick anyone's ass, even that evil midget Happosai. Well at least that was if he could get home, surely if there was a way here, there would be a way back. But then again the rest of the heroes were dead in their own world so that was also something to consider.

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Some instinct woke him in the night, his ki rocketed into action burning his veins and mind with light. He sensed magic an instant later. It was a dampening thing, clouding his mind and encouraging him to sleep. Well if magic wanted him to sleep that was the last thing Ranma wanted to do. He forced his eyes open as the door to his room was cracked, stilling his body he waited as the light spilled over him.

From his slightly cracked eyes he could see the intruder, "Mein?" he thought. He watched the woman move silently across the room to the table where his decoy bag of silver waited. She glanced in it and a very Nabiki like smile ran across her face. With conservative motions she placed the coin bag on her belt before gliding over to his fake sleeping form.

"How to handle this" Ranma thought. His first instinct was to leap up and start into action, but he kinda wanted to see what was going on. This girl had joined him and his instincts had told him something else was going on and now that it was happening he kind of wanted to figure out the whole picture. Well that and she was only stealing ten silver pieces, not that she knew it. She stood over his form frowning.

Hands reached down to unbutton his vest and deciding to scare her, he made a noise and turned over. The girl fell down on her ass just barely suppressing a yelp of fear. She stood up looking furiously down at him before clenching her fists and slipping out of the room.

She did not notice when he entered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken and in three motions took the sack of money, got the silver coins, and returned the bag and got back into the same position of sleep even as the air stirred by the momentum caused her to stiffen and look behind herself. Seeing he was still under the *Sleep* spell she sighed and closed the door.

Well that was that. She certainly did not want to really fight alongside him that much was clear, either she was going to be gone come morning or pretend not to know anything just like his Pa. So either a thief or a moocher who wanted a free ride with whatever he was doing. That annoyed him but not so much as it would have if his instincts had not been screaming about her the whole time. Besides, he had prepared for it and his preparations had worked so nothing needed to be done tonight. With that covered he slipped back into a wary sleep just in case she figured it out and came back.

He woke up the next morning to the door splintering apart as several heavily armed men burst into his room. "Hero of the Shield you are under arrest for…" whatever else he had been saying was silenced by Ranma's reaction. He had come out of full sleep to fully awake in less than a second and his body reacted without checking in with his mind at the sight of armored men with hard angry faces charging him.

He had surged up from his position on the floor, leg shooting out at a diagonal, the full length of his body moving in tandem as his foot caught the knight who was speaking on the chin. The force of the blow lifted him up in the air, slammed him against the roof, and brought him down in a painful crash landing on the floor.

The second knight surged forward with a cry of rage, his sword in the act of being drawn from his sheath. Centering his body Ranma surged forward, fist lashing out to strike the center of the armor. Now by any reasonable standard of existence his fist of flesh and blood should have broken on the breastplate of solid metal. But unfortunately for the knight Ranma was not a reasonable existence, the blow dented the metal inward and sent the man flying out the broken doorway and into the wall across the hall. The landing was so hard that he did not fall forward but remained stuck in the wall. Two faces in helmets poked their heads around the doorway, eyes wide with shock.

"Exp 450"

Ranma Lvl 8

The two remaining knights gulped. "Now," Ranma said easily, "What is this about?"

The one to the right gulped. "Um, you're under arrest for sexual assault?"

"Really, and pray tell who did I do that to?"

"Um the king demanded you brought before him."

"Two plus two equals four," Ranma muttered. That little bitch, robbery does not work so she tries false accusations. Or could this have been her plan the whole time? "I did nothing" he told the sweating pair of knights.

"I understand that but um, um, would you please come with us to see the king?"

Ranma shrugged, no sense in running away. Time to find out what was really happening. "Sure" he told the knight.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Um, any chance you would come in restraints?"

With casual effort he reached down to the unconscious knight at his feet touching his fingers to the metal. With a squeeze he indented his fingers into the armor and lifted the man up by finger strength alone. Walking past the pair he did the same to the other knight pulling him out of the wall with his other hand. Each man weighed at least three hundred pounds in full armor and he was holding them up by finger strength alone.

He looked at the talkative knight. "I guess not" the knight said, answering his own question.

There were several more knights outside and by the time they reached the castle Ranma was carrying two more over his shoulders. The other five knights had wisely decided that they could not beat him.

"Exp 450"

Ranma Lvl 10

He went to the audience hall and as all eyes turned to him filled with disgust and anger, he dropped the four knights on the ground. Several of the guards in the hall started in surprise, one lowering his spear to the attack position. Ranma tossed one of the KO'ed knights into him knocking him to the floor.

He stalked forward. The king was sitting on the throne, his face a mask of rage. His minister with the golden circlet stood to his side, his face a neutral mask. The three other hero's stood to the left of the king. Ren looked troubled as he gazed at him. Itsuki was staring at him defiantly. Motoyasu was glaring at him with as much hate as the king was. Mein stood behind him, Ranma noted the money bag at her waist, and the stupid girl probably had not even opened it since last night. As their eyes met hers glinted ever so slightly in triumph before she hid behind Motoyasu in the perfect image of a traumatized child.

Everyone to the man, the heroes, save Ren, nobles, and guards stared at him like he was a demon. "Sup" Ranma asked the silent court.

"You, you monster!" the king yelled. "Why is he not in chains!?"

Two guards moved to make it happen, both were well dressed and better equipped than the knights sent to arrest him. Not that it mattered that much, the guard striking to his left was faster than his counterpart moving in low from the right, his spear snaking out in a swift thrust.

Moving at a diagonal Ranma side stepped the thrust moving towards the guard. The poor man did not have time to do anything as Ranma grabbed him by his helmet and slammed him to the marble floor. In the next heartbeat he leapt into the air performing a full backflip over the guard striking at him from behind. His leg swept out kicking the guard's legs out from under him. As he struck the floor Ranma stomped hardon his breast plate, leaving a perfect impression of his foot in the armor.

"Exp 640"

Ranma Lvl 12

"So," he said casually as if nothing had happened turning back to the king, "what is this about?"

More knights and guards poured into the room, weapons drawn, but putting themselves between the king and him. The king looked even more livid, "How dare you pretend to know nothing you devil!"

Mein spoke then. "Sniff… Hic… Shield Hero-sama got drunk yesterday… Hic… Th-then he suddenly burst into my room, giving into his beastly desires while forcing himself on me." She held herself tighter against the spear hero fake tears streaming down her face. "He said 'The night is still young' and violently tore my clothes off."

Motoyasu then comforted the sobbing Mein.

"I-I was horrified… I ran out of the room, screaming for my dear life when Motoyasu-sama appeared and defended me."

"…" Anger, bubbling anger surged thru his body but he fought it down. "So I chased you after I assaulted you?"

"How dare you talk to her," Motoyasu snarled. "I don't care what you think you are, touching a woman who does not want it is criminal."

*Eye Twitch*

"So you didn't steal anything from me Mein?" Ranma asked.

The girl whimpered and the king spoke, his voice like a headsman's axe, "Silence you fiend!"

"You brutally committed rape against my dear countryman, villainǃ If you weren't a hero, I would have you executed on the spot!"

More anger built. "So she just accuses me, with no witness, no evidence, and I'm guilty?" That was not fair but the looks of everyone here told him exactly that. Every eye here was not only judging, every eye here believed he was guilty and every eye here had been waiting for it, as if he had confirmed something about himself they had already known.

He met the eyes of Mein again and with everyone looking at him, and no one at her, the tearful child act vanished for an instant and the bitch stuck her tongue out at him.

"Her word is enough, I want to kill you so badly hero, you hurt my child!" the king roared.

And just like that Ranma lost his anger towards the king. Now that the king had said that he could make out some of the king's features in Mein. This was not an enraged king, this was an enraged father. It was still unfair that the man did not question what had happened at all but, from what he had seen of real fathers over his life, many of them would have reacted the same way.

Now of course all the anger transferred over to Mein. He looked up and such was his glare that the battle hardened knights flinched back from it. He wanted to say something insulting, he wanted to hurt her badly. This girl was worse than Nabki, this girl…sigh had done things he was far too used to being done to him.

He was something to be used and tossed aside when inconvenient, he was nothing more to her than that. Well he knew what was going on for the most part, no point in staying when all it would accomplish was to make him lash out at the guards and knights who were only doing their job.

So he turned and began to walk away from the king, the bitch of a princess and her sap of a hero. "Where do you think you're going!?" the king roared.

Ranma did not answer, he did not care. The two guards at the entrance to the audience chamber, having got a full showing of just what he could do, wisely stepped out of his way.

"Shield!" the king roared. "I might not be able to have you killed but I will make sure my entire kingdom knows what you have done!"

Ranma ignored him again and walked out of hearing range, moving very calmly save for the sparks of ki dancing around his shield.

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The portcullis slammed shut behind him, which was pretty silly considering they would have to open it again for the other heroes to leave. But the message was clear: "The door is shut."

Why the hell did he do this?

He was always meeting people who judged him first, women who used him then tossed him aside, who extorted him for money, or bashed him over the head with oversized hammers, or declaring marriage or death. Protect the weak, that was all he was trying to do with his life, have a little fun, become better at his art and fight for those who would not protect themselves. He was not that hard of a person to figure out, so why the hell was this always happening. What was the point of doing this? The air around him seemed to quiver with violence as those thoughts turned in on themselves.

That was when he heard a cry. He looked as a small child dashed from a darkened alley. Her hair was a dark brown and ran wild around her shoulders down her back and over her chest. Above her head two raccoon like ears poked out and from under a dirty ratty shirt she wore for clothing a tail of the same color showed.

There were broken chains connected to her ankles and wrists, scratches, marks and dirt over her exposed face and arms. She was clutching some sort of glass casing in her arms and her face was pale with exhaustion. Across her back was a long bloody cut, a fresh whip mark that had elicited the cry that had drawn his attention.

The child tripped, her bare feet bloodied from the rough road of the town gave out on her and she fell forward. A man followed from the alley a moment later. He was wearing a laborers outfit, looked annoyed more than anything else, and had a long black whip pulled back for another strike. The child held up the glass casing in front of her like a shield and the man pulled back for a second only to swing in at an angle that would avoid the case.

Both the child and he were surprised when a hand caught the whip. Ranma now stood in between them, his right arm raised, the end of the whip caught in it. His eyes were deadly calm as he looked upon the man. "I really should thank you" he told him gently, though the sparks of ki dancing in his shield showed his true emotions. "For a moment there I was questioning my whole existence. I forgot for a moment exactly why I do what I do."

"Th-that demi-human is a slave, she is my master's property. If you interfere with this than you will be defying the law."

"Well," Ranma said his voice cracking, "I have good news for you."

The man had the good sense to start sweating in fear at that voice. "What's that?"

"You day at work ends right now."

"What do you…" Ranma did not let him finish as he kicked out catching the man right in the testicles. He was very careful not to kill with the blow but nevertheless that man's ancestors would be sore for weeks on end. A whimpering sound escaped his throat as his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards.

Turning away from him he went to the child, the poor thing was trembling eyes wide with terror. But that quickly went away as she began coughing, and it sounded bad, it was a harsh unhealthy cough that grated the ears.

He was at her side in an instinct, scooping her up in his arms. "You," he shouted at a passerby, "where is the doctor?"

The man looked at the child in his arms then at him, made a face of disgust and turned away. "You son of a bitch" Ranma swore.

Looked around he saw that everyone had vacated the street, what the fuck was wrong with this place. He felt something wet on his arm and noticed blood starting to be coughed up from the child. He was no doctor but he knew that was really bad, he ran through town but every plea for help was ignored. Running out of options he kicked in the door to the weapons shop, there were people in it but he did not care.

The shop keep looked up startled from his counter "What the?"

"I need help!" Ranma screamed at him.

He took one look at the child and shouted "Shops closed, everyone out!" Motioning Ranma forward he placed the child on the counter. More blood came out staining her clothing "She needs a doctor but no one will tell me where one is."

"What!?" the weapon maker yelled.

"Where is…"

The child coughed again but something was different, the child arched and her breath was strangled, her eyes going wide. There was no time, it was too late to get a doctor, too late for normal medical help, so he did the only thing he could.

To heal with ki was not a new thing, martial artists in his world used it all time to recover from injuries that would have crippled normal people. Using ki like that was as natural as breathing and the higher ki one had the better they healed.

But healing someone else with your ki was a different matter. With a few rare exceptions like twins ki was not compatible between people. That was part of the reason why it could hurt so much when used as a weapon. Not only was the energy hitting you but your body was rejecting the foreign ki as well. So for most ki users healing others was beyond their reach. There were a few masters in his world who could use ki to heal others but they kept their secrets closely guarded.

He had spent a great deal of his free time experimenting, mostly with plants, in an effort to create an ability that could heal others. It had taken him months of diligent, and often times fruitless, effort until at last he had made his life force match that of the plants he had been using. Once he matched that he had been able to affect and heal damage done to them, now the problem he faced was how to transfer that skill to living, thinking beings. Due to the immense danger a foreign ki could cause he had never tried it on a person.

But now if he did nothing someone was going to die, and there was no way in heaven or hell that he would let that come to pass without a fight. He shut his mouth and stepped close to the child, he placed a hand on her heart, the organ that spread blood and thus ki throughout the body. He placed his other hand on her stomach, the sea of ki as it was sometimes called, the place where the body transformed food into energy and thus into ki.

He could not allow thoughts to interfere, he let instinct take over focusing on the one thought that he would allow. His ki was going to save her, it was not going to hurt her, it could not, it simply was not possible.

His hands lit with a blinding light and he focused the force of his life, who and what he was into the child. The instant his ki touched hers and he let his instinct do the rest, there was a click somewhere in mind. His ki flared to an even greater brilliance, the shield changed. He felt the weapon shift.

"Requirements for the Reiki Shield Unsealed."

True Power Unsealed: Ki Molding…Equipment bonus: Medicine 3…Special Ability: None

The balloon shield morphed, becoming more rectangular and smaller, perhaps a foot by a foot across. The kanji for the words "Life, Hope, Ki, and Light" were written on it, one word in each corner.

As the shield came into being Ranma's ki molded itself of its own accord matching the child in an instant. She took in a startled breath as life flooded her lungs, the source of the infirmary, somehow Ranma knew that. He knew that her lungs were weaker than they should have been, he knew that her escape from the slaver had overtaxed her body.

What he also knew was that he was not going to let it happen ever again, he let the ability drain his body. His MP bar appeared and started going down at a steady rate as his ki destroyed and rebuilt the damage that years of illness had done to this child. Such a disease, it was not like an injury, it took so much more to heal. He held on like that for a full minute, his MP was nearing zero and the healing was only half way through, well screw that.

The MP bar went to zero and with an effort of will he began to use his HP to power the healing. Losing MP felt draining, losing health like this felt agonizing. Horrible pain the like he had felt only as a small child in a pit of cats or fighting against the flames of the Phoenix god Saffron. But that pain did not matter this time, he was allowing it to happen. "A martial artist protects the weak." That was his life and that was all that mattered. His eyes became blurry as the bar went below one hundred and at the point where it reached thirty he knew he was done. He let go of the power and pitched over to the side fading into blackness.

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For those who read the light novel or the manga I hope you can understand why I changed some things, for the most part because I cant see Ranma trying to get a slave under any circumstance.

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Also I know there is more to the King's actions than simple father like anger, but Ranma does not know that. He simple based his own assumptions and expediences.

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Besides that I hope you have a good day, Fanboy out.


	3. Chapter 3

Ranma of the Shield Chapter 3

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Still having fun with writing this, enjoy.

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It was not every day he fought his way out of sleep with warmth beside him, usually that meant Shampoo had snuck in and Akane was going to give him a flying lesson when he woke up. But no that couldn't happen, he was not there anymore.

He opened his eyes looking around a dimly lit room he did not recognize, there was the bare necessities and he thought he could hear the sounds of a forge nearby. Light sure breathing reached his ears and he looked to his side, the girl was there. Her small arms were clutching him tightly, her body clenched as if she was used to sleeping in smaller spaces.

It had worked, thank god, he had done it or rather the shield had become exactly what he needed it. The girl whimpered and on reflex he touched her head gently, ever so gently rubbing back and forth. The whimpering stopped and, and he thought he could make out voices.

"What do you think?"

"I, I don't know what to think from what you told me her lungs must have been damaged."

Oyaji was speaking to someone but who?

"That boy did something I've never seen before and I was partied with you once."

The other man was quiet for a moment "I have no idea what he did to her"

"He healed her"

"Not in the way we know it."

The shopkeeper made a confused sound "Huh?"

"Healing magic will repair injury, it can slow disease and heal that damage done by it, but do you know what always remains behind?"

"What?"

"Marks, scars, signs, something to indicate that the area has been healed, but there was nothing. I used my most powerful scan spell and saw nothing but healthy tissue, if anything the boy had more damage than the girl."

"Did you figure out where that came from?"

"...The only thing that makes sense is not possible."

"But you said it makes sense."

"Well yes but."

"So what is it?"

"That boy somehow turned his own life, his own HP into mana."

"I have never heard of that before"

"That is because not only is the art forbidden, the knowledge of how to do such a thing has been lost of centuries. I only know about it because I like to study history, not because of my schooling."

"Why was such a thing forbidden?"

"Because of the damage it causes the body, the strain it puts on the mind and most of all because it is the precursor to something darker."

"I don't understand"

The other man sighed "The school of thought behind it is that once you figure out how to turn your own life into power it would not be a stretch to turn others life's into power."

Ranma blinked, that was a terrifying thought, granted the way he had healed was far different from the magic these people seemed to practice.

"If I might ask" the strange man said.

"Yes?"

"You heard the proclamation of the king, you have heard of this deeds. Why help the shield? For all you know he could have been the cause of the girl's ills."

Anger flared but faded as Oyaji answered calmly "Simple really, I don't believe them."

"But the princess herself"

"I know the princesses, and that is one of the several reasons why I don't think he did it."

"Several?"

"From what you told me, that boy nearly burned his life out to save a child, what kind of monster does that?"

"...*Sigh*... I should be going now, the boy was recovering fast and I would not be surprised if he awakens soon."

"Thank you for coming over Tarth"

"Think nothing of it, I still owe you a lot Iron Adventurer."

Oyaji laughed "Not as much as I owe you Berserk Healer"

Their voice faded as they moved further away, well at least someone was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Slowly he sat up gratified to find no pain at his actions, the motion however stirred the girl. Her eyes blinked open, they were brown to the point of almost red. Her breathing stayed steady as she held onto his side.

What should he say? He was very good at saving people but afterwards he seemed to always mess it up. "Hey" he decided on that word was harmless enough.

Her eyes looked down "Thank you" she whispered.

Almost by itself his hand went back to her head "It's what I do"

Looking to the side he noted his clothing lying on one of the chairs and got out of the bed, the girl watched him as he got his stuff back into place. "Why" she asked.

That word had so many implications, why save her, why heal her, why step in at all?

"Because I am a martial artist and that is my duty"

Her eyes lifted back up and met his, how in the world could eyes seem to be that big "Are you going to leave me?"

Well what the hell kind of question was that? "Um, where are you parents?"

"Dead" she whispered tears forming "Th-They were killed by monsters"

Ouch that stung, stung bad. "Look what I am doing is not going to be safe, do you have any relatives? Anyone to take you in?"

"No, I'm just a demi human slave"

"...great…."

"Sad Child has entered your party" the status window told him.

"What's your name?"

"...Raphtalia"

"I'm Ranma Saotome"

The status window changed "Raphtalia has joined your party"

Well it was not like he was not used to baggage in a fight, though hopefully this one did not have a hammer to smack him with. There was a rag next to a bowl filled with water Ranma picked up both and brought them over to the bed. "You should get cleaned, I'll be right outside."

"You're not going to leave me?" she asked again

"Of course not"

He opened the door and stepped out, the back of the weapons shop came into view and a building with a forge stood on the right. Oyaji was on his way over and pulled up at the sight of him "Damn kid back to 100% already?"

"I'm used to worse"

"Worse than turning yourself into a lifeless husk?"

Ranma pulled up his shit and showed the man a blotch of scars where a Phoenix god's flames had burned him "So far nothing has quite equaled this, though turning life into mana was agonizing."

Oyaji shook his head "Who's the girl? She would not stop struggling until I let her sleep next to you."

Ranma shrugged "I don't know I think someone was keeping her as a slave, oh that reminds me She's awake and I have her cleaning herself up with that rag and bowl of water, sorry I didn't ask if i could use it."

"No, that's fine she didn't want anyone to touch her so I left it there for that purpose."

"Ok back on track, so there is slavery in this country?" Ranma spoke normally but there was a knife edge to his voice.

"Ya but for the most part its monsters who are caught, tamed and used as party members for those who can afford them. Slavery of humans has long been outlawed in this kingdom but demi humans...well its not to uncommon for there to be one or two among the slave traders."

"I see"

"What will you do with her?"

Ranma sighed "Her parents are dead and she does not know anyone that can take her in, and I'm reasonably sure if she was left here the trader that had her will come back."

"A wise assumption"

"So I guess she's coming with me"

"You made her a party member?"

"I don't plan on having her fight" He said quickly "But I can't leave her like this."

"You don't do things half way do you Hero?"

"Not true I often as I would like"

"Well it's better that you have a beastman child with you rather than human."

Ranma blinked "Why is that?"

"Hm?" the shopkeeper muttered "Oh nothing just the musings of an ex adventure"

'...ok"

The door opened the Raphtalia stepped out her face washed clean of the dirt and grim, to his relief the ki healing he had done on her closed the many minor cuts and bruises she had on her body before.

Oyaji smiled kindly and dropped to one knee "Good to see you doing well"

The girl stepped behind Ranma looking uncertain "Its ok" Ranma told her.

The looked up at him and nodded slowly moving out from behind him "Th-thank you for helping me, I-I'm sorry I scratched you."

"Ha" the old man burst out "No problem, I should have known you would have woken up confused, honest mistake."

They made their way back to the shop "If you're going to take her with you boy then she needs some better clothing and a weapon."

"But I'm not"

He held up his and stalling the question "I know what you want, but you never know better to be prepared than not right?"

"...very true, a lot of things in his life could have been different if he had followed that philosophy."

"You'll need this and this and this" the old man was saying to himself grabbing clothing the proper size, a cape." he pointed her over to the long knives "Find one that feels comfortable"

Ranma started pulling out some silver but the Oyaji waved his hand dismissively "On the house, I had every hero party come through my shop yesterday I can afford to be generous."

Those were words he had never heard in his life, his dad would never say something like that. Nabki, the old hag, the perverted troll. No one in his life would have said that but this one said it so easily "_I wonder what it would have been like to have this man as a father" _

He shook his head where had that thought come from, "Thank you so much" he honestly told the man "For everything, especially not judging me."

"Dont get me wrong kid I'm not perfect when I heard the news I did wonder if it might be true, but after seeing what you did for her. Well thats not something just anyone would do."

That brought out a smirk on Ranma's face "Thank you then for judging me according to my real actions."

Raphtalia got dressed in the changing room and when she came out looked even more adorable than she already had.

She looked up at him questing for approval, "That looks good" he told her, there was a twinge in his stomach and he realized that he had not eaten since his dinner at the inn two nights before. "You hungry?"

At those words her stomach made and audible noise "Right what was I thinking kids are always hungry."

He held up his fist to Oyaji who raised an eyebrow in response "In my world people who respect each other sometimes bump fists" he explained.

"Ah, ok then" they bumped firsts and Ranma said his farewells.

* * *

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They got a lot of looks as they got on to the main street, women moved quickly to get out of his way and several of the men gave speculative looks as Raphtalia. So that was why they had a child slave for sale, well he was now pissed off.

Raphtalia stopped in front of a business which judging by the smells was a restaurant of some sort, well that worked.

The server gave them a displeased look as she led them to a table, Ranma noted the envious look Raphtalia was giving towards another kid's lunch and some of the anger he was feeling dissipated this child was too cute, it should have been a weapon in her inventory.

He ordered them food, himself taking the cheapest thing on the menu after all he didn't really care food was food. However he ordered Raphtalia the kiddie meal, at first she seemed confused but with some encouragement. While they were eating and ignoring the stares he checked his stats, he had gone up quite a few levels yesterday. Those knights must have been at a much higher one than his current, there bad luck he was someone who didn't follow the rules of power this world seemed to have in place.

No that was not the right way to say it, rather the world had started him at the beginning and did not seem to care his power far exceeded a simple lv 1.

His starts had shot up even higher and for the most part it was the same as his first level up, defense got the highest, he would really have to see how getting hit would affect him now. Attack, HP,MP, where generally the same save for the fact that the switched around the numbers 12,11, and 10 a little. Intelligence and agility were progressing slowly but if he flipped genders they were growing extremely fast. Something he noted is that while the difference in strength and life was large in his girl from his defense was the same. That must have been the shields influence.

He finished the meal and changed his shield to the Rosetta Shield, Raphtalia was too focused on the small flag atop her rice mounted to pay attention. He waited patiently reading and doing lessons the book was giving him while Raphtalia enjoyed her food. No skin of his nose to let a child be happy.

Just as she was about to be finished he morphed the shield back to its Balloon form, "Ok I'm gonna go visit the forest outside of town, if you want I can probably get Oyaji to watch you until I get back.

"No!" she said loudly grabbing his side.

"But there will be monsters"

"NO!" she said again louder.

"Ok, ok let's get moving then."

The exited the town and several orange balloons floated close, to a look and Ranma and turned around floating away. "They learn" Ranma muttered.

Together they followed the road uncontested until they entered the thickly covered forest, almost at once several red balloons a color he had never seen before on them attack. Raphtalia yelped in fear as one leapt for her. Ranma backhanded it into a tree so hard it popped. Another had been going for him but a single kick killed it as well.

Raphtalia looked a little pale but it was over now, he picked up the remnants of the balloons. Something jumped at him from behind and Ranma decided to let it hit him, see what his defense could do.

At least that was what he planned, "Look out!" the child cried panicked, when he did not move she did. With speed that would not have been possible with a human child she leapt at the monster hitting with the weight of her small body driving her knife deep. *Pop* went the balloon.

"Exp 13"

"Companion exp 9"

She stood up holding the knife in both hands shaking and trembling her breath ragged. Gently Ranma pushed the knife to a safer angle and put his arm around her. No need to say he had never been in any danger that was not what she needed to hear. "Thank you Raphtalia"

Her breathing steadied, "I, I did it"

"Yes you did and it was very impressive but you don't need to fight, I got this covered."

She looked at her knife cute face contorted in thought, while she was thinking he got together the corpses of red balloons and absorbed them.

Red Small Shield

True power sealed … Equipment Bonus: 4 Defensive Power

Well that was larger than his current shield so with and effort of will he changed to its new form. Raphtalia stared at it in shock "Ranma sama who are you?"

"Its Ranma and I guess I'm the hero of the shield"

"The legendary hero?"

"I guess"

"I'm gonna do a bit more fighting, see if I can get any new shields so stay close."

"Yes Ranma"

The next encounter was with three balloons that burst onto the path, the one going straight for him died on the first hit, the one charging in on his right was shield bashed so hard its corpse stuck to the shield. Raphtalia tried to get the third one surging forward, the red balloon weaved to the side and she missed falling to the ground.

She let out a cry of fear before Ranma caught the Red balloon and held it off to one side not killing it yet. The thing struggled a little but its own strength was no match "Sorry" she murmured as she got to her feet.

"Raphtalia you don't have to do this, you're a kid its fine to depend on others."

"Bu-But I want to help."

He could have said I don't need your help but maybe Akane's hammers to the head were having a good side effect since he did not blurt that out. So instead he said "Fine but look if you gona try and fight these things your gona have to do it right."

"Um"

"Watch" he threw the balloon back five feet and it charged, Ranma waited until it attacked avoided it and caught it. "Since you small right now any real attempt at an attack like you are trying to do is going to put you off balance. So do what I just did, avoid that attack then strike."

He let it go and the kid yelped as it dashed at the weaker of the two biting for all it was worth. He was ready to intervene if it looked like it might actually hit and that turned out to be a good thing. She avoided its first attack but lost her footing, Ranma caught the Red Balloon again "Good try but watch your footwork, keep calm I won't let it touch you."

He released it again this time she waited, the fear was still there but it was overshone by her trust in him. The Balloon surged forward and she stepped to the side avoiding that attack, with with a quick movement she thrust her dagger into the balloon with both hands. *Pop*

Exp Ranma 1

Exp Raphtalia 6

"See, when your opponent attacks and is not prepared to defend a counter attack is devastating. But you did very well, I did not pick it up so fast."

She looked away from him shyly "Th-thank you."

"Alright let's continue"

The next monster was stranger than the Balloons, it was a white, moving mushroom. It had sharp slanted eyes, and was roughly the size of a human head. There was only one of them and Raphtalia moved forward slowly. "_Well so much for not using her to fight, but at least I'm not forcing her to fight." _ The thing the shield said was Roux Mush growled as it charged, she waited until it swung its small arm at her and avoided the blow burning down her dagger in an overhead slash and the Mush pitched over dead from the blow.

Exp Ranma 1

Exp Raphtalia 6 Lv Up

Well that was strange, it took him thirty five exp to lvl up the first time not twenty three, but still that meant even children could grow in power at rates that would have made his father jealous. "Good Job" he told her.

She beamed at up at him, and well that was that. As it turned out there were several different colored Mush which he helped Raphtalia kill. It ended up that he got several new shields out of the deal.

Mush Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Plant Identification 1

Blue Mush Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Simple Compounding Recipes 1

Green Mush Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Apprentice's Compounding

Taken advantage of the help option, he realized that all these things were for the medicine skill, he could now instantly identify a limited number of plants with medicinal purposes. He had some recipes to tell him what he needed and to top it all off he somehow now knew just how to mix, crush, cut and use the plants to make the medicine work.

Welp that did it, this shield was even more freaking awesome than he realized. They stopped as the sky grew dark Raphtalia had gained three more levels making her LV 5 and already Ranma could see the imminence difference in movement and strength from this morning.

He gazed at her thoughtfully as they ate a meal he had thrown into a pot and boiled down to a very bland tasting but filling stew. She noted his gaze after a while and began to shift uncomfortably, "D-did I do something wrong Ranma?" she finally asked.

"No, I'm just thinking"

"What about?"

"You, are you sure you want to fight?"

Her face got the determined look only children could make "Yes"

"Why?"

"Because I want to help you."

"But you could get hurt, monsters like the ones that took you parents could come at any time, this is very dangerous."

There it was, fear appeared in her eyes and she started shaking "I want to fight she said again"

"Why"

"I want to"

"Why!" he said louder.

"Because I don't what to watch!" she screamed and burst into tears.

Very carefully Ranma went over to her and wrapped his arms around her "I don't want to watch" she whimpered "My parents died, they died and I could do nothing."

They were quiet for a little bit as Ranma comforted her "Its ok, I understand If that is your reason than I will show you the proper path."

"What?" she asked.

"I will show how to become strong, and it will be the hardest experience for your life. It will be exhausting, it will be painful, and it will be hard. But if you want it I will show you the path to power."

"I want it" she whispered "I want that more than anything."

"ok" he said simply " Your training begins tomorrow apprentice."

"Ranma-san?"

"Ranma is just fine"

"Are you... fighting against that disaster? The one where the monsters come from?"

"A Martial Artist protects the weak that is my life, it has been my only constant," he stroked her hair gently his eyes distant "Every world has its share of assholes and wretched people but I'll protect them too."

"Why?"

"Because if I didn't then I would be just as bad as them, actually no I'd be worse."

He smiled down at her "And of course there are people like you, you're are a lot easier to fight for."

* * *

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The next two weeks were possibly the worst of Raphtalia's life, Ranma made sure of that. As it turned out training could grant you exp. In fact the status window made a note that she was his apprentice now and gave her an exp bonus while he was training her. By the end of those two weeks he was getting a feel for just how far he could push her. Since she was his apprentice he could now see her stats, he was starting to be able to see the numbers and get a very close guess at how much she lift, how long he could make her run, ect. Training did not increase individual attributes unless you counted the boosts her apprentice level skill in martial arts gave her.

He ran her ragged, and in between training her he studied the Rosetta Shield and tried his hand at medicine. He had expected some complaints from her but so far had received none. Which was highly impressive considering he had never shut up about his complaints to his pa at her age.

The exercise was a good thing for her, it had taken him a while to realize it but just because the strength stat said one thing, it was quite another to get the full use out of it. By his methods she was able to reach the full limits of her physical stats and understand her own limits as well.

Being on the other end of the teaching spectrum was a strange experience, he was starting to almost be grateful to his pa for making all those mistakes with him. Now he knew what to avoid with Raphtalia.

Oh yes and during this time Ranma was able to unseal quite a few more shields, they had met a new kind of monster that came in several colors and from its remains he had gotten.

Requirement for Egg Shield has been unsealed

Egg Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Culinary 1

Requirement for Blue Egg Shield has been unsealed.

Blue Egg Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Judgement 1

Requirement for Sky Egg Shield has been unsealed.

Sky Egg Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Beginner Cooking Recipes

So their meals had taken a considerable jump in taste when he had made them, also his medical skills had increased, he had been able to create, the Heal pill which helped with wounds when applied, and when absorbed into the shield, _that's right the thing could absorb medicine to_, it had unsealed the shields called.

Petit Medicine Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Raises Medicine's Effects.

Petit Poison Shield

True power sealed … Equipment bonus: Poison Resistance (Small)

Soon after he had managed to create a Nutritional supplement pill of low quality and a Recovery Potion which helped with testing illnesses. It probably would have been helpful to Raphtalia if he hadn't practically rebuilt her lungs with his Ki healing.

But anyway absorbing them into the shield gave him the

Calorie Shield

True power sealed … Equipment Bonus: Stamina Boost (Small)

Energy Shield

True power sealed … Equipment Bonus: SP Boost (Small)

Energic Shield

True power sealed … Equipment Bonus: Stamina Consumption Decrease (Small)

All these stat bonuses too bad they the only worked when he was holding them, well that was what was happening. Oh, right three other important things had happened, one it seemed that Raphtalia could only avoid nightmares if she was holding on to him while she was sleeping. And after several night attacks by monsters attracted to her cries he decided to just get used to it and stop expecting a hammer to attack him.

Two he found out what that glass case she had kept was that conversation had gone like this, "So Raphtalia what is that case you have?"

The girl moved her hand over it gently pulling back a black cloth she has placed over it, inside was a small egg. "When I escaped I grabbed the thing they had set to the side earlier, they did not want to damage it so I used it as a shield to get away.

"Whats in the egg?"

"A monster baby I think"

"...say wa?"

"From what," she shivered "From what the bad man said, some adventures like to raise monsters from the egg rather than buy them as full grown pets. He says it makes them more loyal to the owner."

Well now he knew he had a baby monster to watch out for, he said nothing to Raphtalia about throwing it away. She seemed attached to it, it was something had helped her to freedom, so he hoped whatever hatched from it would be friendly.

The final thing that happened over those two weeks was his penchant for chaotic things returned with a vengeance. It has started when they had been practicing how to attack an opponent while not opening yourself up too much.

That was when a creature who had no business being in this area wandered across them, imagine a Rhino, but the Rhino has a horn three feet long with a razor sharp point. Now imagine most of its skin was made of a rock like material, now to finish the image it's pissed off as all hell.

Rhinogore the shield told him unhelpfully, the damn thing was lv 20, which made no sense give this area was home to lv 3 Mush. Well to make a short story even shorter knowing he had no time to waste and not trusting his fist to end it quick enough to guarantee Raphtalia's safety the battle had went something like this.

Grabbing the child in one arm he leapt straight into the air, nearly twenty feet straight over the things charge. Angrily snorting his disapproval the Rhinogore had placed itself where they would and intent of getting them.

It had not expected what came next, holding his hand up he let his confidence sing along his body. Ki ignited at the tip of his shield and gathered into a ball, pointed it down he had howled "Moko Takabisha" The shield changed something about it, it was tighter than it should have been, stronger than the Ki he had put into it. The ball of ki hit the thing right along its back and there was a shattering sound as a blast of light washed over them.

Exp Ranma 600

Exp Raphtalia 300

Ranma LV 18

Raphtalia Lv 10

5 gold

When it had cleared the Rhinogore was dead, Raphtalia just started at him in awe as he began to harvest the thing.

Requirements for Stone Hide Shield unsealed

Stone Hide Shield

True Power unsealed: Damage Reduction /1, Equipment Bonus: Damage Reduction /1 Defense Bonus 7, Bonus Skill: Hide of the Ancestors (Once a day skill that grants a plus /10 Damage reduction to the user"

Requirements for Sword Horn Shield unsealed.

Sword Horn Shield

True Power Unsealed: Piercing Resistance 5, Equipment Bonus: Attack 5, Bonus Skill "Aura of the Raging Ancestors Damage 3/Enemy debuff damage 3 in a thirty foot area centered around the user." (Aura stacks with attack bonus of the Sword Horn Shield)

The Stone Hide Shield was a circular thing nearly three feet across, the front was covered in the rock like skin similar to the Rhinogore which the back was cushioned against his arm by a soft material.

The Sword Horn Shield was awesome, his first shield with attack properties. Imagine his first shield the small shield. It was about the same shape and size but protruding to either side of the shield tip were foot long needle sharp horns about two inches at the base. The shield placed as it was up near his hand made it a perfect punching tool.

He decided that the Sword Horn Shield was going to be a trump card and switched it to the Stone Hide Shield.

That was the first chaotic incident, the second one turned out to be even more significant than the first. They were hunting balloons together when they spotted a red balloon twice the size of the others. Raphtalia had dashed up to it and stabbed it, and that was when they found out why it was twice the size of the others. The damn thing had been drinking water, drinking enough to swell to that size. When Raphtalia stabbed it water had exploded every direction and He became a she for the first time in this world.

Raphtalia had turned to apologize but just stood there her mouth agape Ranma sighed shaking her head to rid it of the water. The child looked from the shield to Ranma's new red hair and back again utter confusion on her face.

"um" she muttered "Look I know this is weird but there is an illogical explanation for this...wait magic is more common in this world perhaps a curse is a logical explanation for this?"

"Ra-Ranma?"

*Sigh* "ya its me see the shield" Ranma waved it in front of the child.

"Bu-Bu-But you're a girl?"

"Ya that sometimes happens"

"...Wa?"

Several mushes had ambushed them in that moment and Ranma blurred into action, to Raphtalia it looked like a blur of movement and three afterimages of Ranma punching all three mushes at nearly the same time. *poof*poof*poof* went the mushes.

"Hm speed really is greatly increased" She mused.

Raphtalia still just stood there mouth opening and closing like a fish "Look just hold on a moment." she told her.

Swiftly she made a small fire and set a cup of water to boil, then dumping it over her head the manly equipment returned and she became a he. "See, boy again"

That served to confuse her even more so he ended training early that day, sat her down, got her fed and calmed. Then told her the story of his curse and the mechanism that triggered it, it took several transformations right in front of her eyes and letting her feel around to for her to be sure that it was true.

And a final note to those weeks of training Raphtalia grew, grew a lot, like three and a half feet in height. No he was not kidding, she had gone from jailbait cute to outright gorgeous in less than three days. Her hair went down to her waist, her ears were much more prominent, as had her chest. She was taller than he was and had a killer smile that would turn any head.

Sometimes it was hard to remember she was only ten, that body belonged to an adult and it was one the same level of as Kasumi the only one of the Tendo sisters that could be called beautiful. Where Nabki had a sort of cold charm, and Akane was tomboyish cute, Kasumi shown forth as a sweet flower among that family. He could say without a doubt that Raphtalia was equal or even greater in terms of looks than Kasumi.

Which made it all the more weird since she was freaking ten, the only answer she had given him about the sudden change was that leveling caused the beastman's body to accelerate growth. She swore to him that it did not affect her mind but he was not so sure, there was a sneaking suspicion in his mind that she only told him her mind was like a child because she liked sleeping next to him. She might had deduced correctly that if he was sure she was not a child there was no way he would let her sleep while hugging him.

But he was not sure and for all he knew she was telling the truth so for until circumstances dictated otherwise he would let the sleeping arrangements fall where they may. Besides she still had nightmares and hearing a girl screaming in terror set off his protective instincts harder than just about everything.

So at the end of those two weeks Raphtalia broke her knife, they ran out of seasoning for food, and had managed to get Raphtalia up two more levels. So it was time to return to town and get resupplied, he also had questions about the wave. His system help bar told him what it was but not how and when he was going to fight it. The damn thing just said "Check the Dragon Hour Glass"

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Nothing really changed in the castle town as they arrived, he still got the looks of fear and disgust from the town's people, apparently the king had been working hard to keep it that way. But in the end he didn't care, people had judged him before and would so again.

Besides there was at least one person happy to see him "Hey boyo" Oyaji called as Ranma and Raphtalia store. "I thought you two would be in Raffan by now" The man pulled up at seeing Raphtalia in her shiny new adult body.

But unlike Ranma the man seemed to know exactly what was going on "You have become quite the looker" He told Raphtalia.

The girl flushed a little "Thank you"

"So again, why are you here?

With an embarrassed expression and held up the broken knife "Ah got some use out of it did ya?"

Ranma looked away from the man "She ended up fighting anyway"

"I thought as much, why do you think I gave her that."

"Well we are here for another weapon," Ranma glanced again at Raphtalia "A sword this time I think, one that is highly durable."

Oyaji nodded "That is a reasonable upgrade."

He walked out from behind the counter to get a closer look at the girl "Hm, both right and left arms are equally strong, are you ambidextrous?"

"No she's right handed, I just didn't let the muscle growth become lopsided."

"Oh, you're training her?"

Ranma nodded "I am a martial artist so I know a thing or two about fighting."

"Know anything about swords?"

"Mostly Katana but I did learn about about longswords, I am an established staff fighter, a decent bow shot, and knowledgeable in several other forms of weaponry including throwing axes….don't ask where I learned that."

*blink*blink* "What martial art did you learn"

The only answer Oyaji got was a smirk and the words "Anything goes"

"Come to think of it" Ranma said "Do you have any Katana?"

"You're asking me If I have a weapon that is considered illegal to even showcase outside the eastern country of its origin?"

"Ya pretty much"

"...how much silver do you have?"

"Two hundred and eight two copper, three hundred and ninety five silver and five gold pieces"

*blink* blink* "I'll be right back" The shopkeeper vanished back into his storeroom. They waited and heard some crashing sounds and boxes being moved. Oyaji returned holding the weapon, the Katana was forty inches long. It's hilt was eleven inches and engraved with a dragon on the right side and a phoenix on the other the blade was twenty nine inches in length and where the hilt and blade connected there was a white lotus flower guard.

The steel was an inky black which almost seemed to absorb light itself, perhaps it was his imagination but as the shopkeeper sheathed the weapon into a rather simple looking wooden sheath the room got brighter.

"Twelve years ago I and my party were exploring an underwater shipwreck, we ended up running into a leviathan and had to flee. This and two jet black gemstones were the only things we recovered." He ran his hand along the sheath "It took me forever to restore this thing to fighting condition and I tried using this but never could make it effective. However if you want this weapon it's going to eight hundred silver and I am pretty sure I could sell this to collectors for at least eight times that much."

Ranma frowned "Why done you do that? I know a girl who would kill for that kind of money."

The man frowned a bit looking at the blade "This weapon is made for combat, it's not an ornament or something to be put away in a case for eternity." His eyes went distinct "It's made for combat and it would be a disservice to do otherwise."

"You don't just make weapons to see them do you?"

"No" an edge came into his voice "I make them to save the lives of the ones who buy them."

It sounded like there was a painful story behind those words but Ranma was pretty sure now was not the time. Looking at the Katana he nodded and handed over the five gold coins, each worth one hundred silver, then he handed over three hundred more silver pieces. With no little reluctance Oyaji handed over the weapon, he also gave Raphtalia a hide breastplate free of charge saying she needed something more fitting for battle.

Ranma showed Raphtalia the proper way of belting on the Katana, the exact angle required for the fasted draw. Oyaji watched him with interest "how much is a whet stone?" Ranma asked

"Fifty copper"

So he bought that too, as he picked it up it started reacted to the shield, curious he let the thing absorb it.

Requirements for Shield of Whetstone Unsealed

Shield of Whetstone

True power sealed … Equipment Bonus: Mineral Identification 1+

Special Effect: Automatic Polishing (8 Hours), High Consumption

Special effect rather than ability, well time to check the help section "An exclusive effect that will only be usable when equipped with a specific weapon.

The effect won't be usable by other weapon even if its true powers have been unsealed. Therefore, one will need to fit a specific weapon into a slot for this special ability to take effect."

Well how about that, a shield that took care of weapons. "What on this flat Melromarc is that?"

Ranma smiled "Not important, say how much common equipment do you have?"

Five minutes later he let the shield absorb what he had bought and several common items he found right outside.

Requirement for Rope Shield has been released

Requirement for Pikyu Pikyu[1] Shield has been released

Requirement for Wood Shield has been released

Requirement for Rock Shield has been released

Requirement for Butterfly Shield has been released

Requirement for Pipe Shield has been released

ETC...

Rope Shield

Unsealing[2] completed…Equipment Bonus: Skill -「Air Strike Shield」

Pikyu Pikyu Shield

Unsealing completed…Equipment Bonus: Beginner Rank's Weapon Repair Techniques I

Wood Shield

Unsealing completed…Equipment Bonus: Lumbering Techniques I

Butterfly Shield

Unsealing completed…Equipment Bonus: Paralysis Resistance (Small)

Pipe Shield

Unsealing completed…Equipment Bonus: Skill - 「Shield Prison」

All that he did was watched by Oyaji with an open mouth "What the hell kind of weapon is that?"

"The Legendary kind" Ranma told him cheerfully.

"Empty Night boy, you are going to be a terror."

A group of adventurers passed by them, most looking glum. Ranma glanced after them eyebrow raised "Oh those guys" Oyaji said "They went hunting for the so called king of the plains apparently someone killed it."

"King of the planes?"

"Ya sometimes monsters much higher than the levels of what is around it move in and stay, those creatures become much stronger and get titles like that."

"Hm I wonder what it looks like"

"From what they said it was a powerful Rhinogore"

Raphtalia glanced at him and he shook his head "Well that's good to know" He told Oyaji, they traded grips and said their farewells.

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According to his help bar the Dragon Hourglass was located in the clock tower and since that building was the largest one building in the town itself finding their way there was not that hard. The receptionist greeted them with the look of distain, obviously his infamy has spread even here.

"I'm here to see the hourglass" Ranma said in a business like tone.

She nodded and moved up from her chair leading them to the central room which had a vaguely spiritual like air about it. The Dragon hourglass was seven meters tall and if the room gave off a spiritual air this thing gave off a divine presence. And he out of all people ought to know, he had killed a being with kind of aura before.

The red sand fell slowly grain by grain and in his vision the numbers of a digital clock appeared. "6:20:12"

"Six days twenty hours twelve seconds Ranma muttered, that was when the next wave would hit. From what he understood when the wave happened he and whoever he was partying with would be pulled to the source of it by magic so he did not have to worry about being in the place it happened.

So he had a week before the wave would come, good perhaps he would get a few more useful things done before it happened.

"You" a woman's voice snarled.

Ranma and Raphtalia turned to in time to see the Spear Hero Motoyasu and Mein enter the room. Oh and five other women who looked to be in his party, *sigh* playboys.

Motoyasu looked like he had been doing well in the past two weeks,Motoyasu's gear was vastly different from a month ago, one can tell how high-leveled he was with a single glance at his equipment.

It wasn't iron-based, but a shiny armor made from silver. He wore cloth underneath which emitted a beautiful pale green tint, most likely due to the extra effects blessed by those clothes. Not only that, but there was the layer of chain mail worn in between those two; it was as if Motoyasu was boasting his absolute defense.

Mein on the other hand looked pretty much the same, her gear was better quality but none of the coloring or type had changed at all. However he got to see a look on her face he had not seen before, she was livid. Her face was red her eyes stroking, her body trembling with suppressed rage. Ranma gave her his sweetest smile "Trouble getting your rocks off?" he asked with a wink.

Oh that did it, four other women had to hold her back otherwise she would have gone for his throat then and there.

"You fiend!" Motoyasu snarled "Is not taking her chastity and not receiving punishment enough."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at him "Ranma who are these people?" Raphtalia asked coming to stand by his side.

At that moment Itsuki walked in with his people, he pulled up short at seeing Ranma. The martial artist gave him a nod and to his surprise after a moment's hesitation the Sword Hero returned the nod, it seemed someone had been thinking about the events that had taken place and asking questions.

The bow hero followed soon after, the kid actually tried to sneak in all quite like do a batman impersonation. Ranma found himself so amused by it that he did not react and let the kid have his moment. Both heroes also had much better equipment than the last time he had seen them.

"Just who is this beauty? She's simply adorable." Whispered the Spear Hero as he looked upon Raphtalia for the first time completely forgetting his rant.

Did Tatewaki have a long lost brother who had somehow got lost in another dimension because the spear hero was reminding Ranma of that Kendo practitioner a lot right now. As he was thinking that the spear hero sutured up to Raphtalia taking her hand and kissing it gently.

"Nice to meet you, young miss. I was summoned to this world as one of the four great heroes. Please call me by my name, Kitamura Motoyasu. I'm honored to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, yes... so you are one of those heroes."

Raphtalia nodded timidly while her eyes eluded his gaze.

"May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"Umm..."

Troubled Raphtalia looked over at Ranma and darted her glance back to Motoyasu.

"I'm Ra-Raphtalia. It's nice to meet you."

"What's your business here today, cutie? For what purpose are you carrying around such a dangerous sword and equipment?" he asked.

"I-I am Ranma's apprentice"

The Spear Hero's eyes widened "You, another one."

Ranma sighed, Motoyasu tuned back to Raphtalia "My lady this man is a violent predator of women, he has already raped one of his companions and if he has not done anything to you yet he will. For your safety and my piece of mind please join me in saving the world."

Ranma waited, Raphtalia had to make her own choices, her own decisions, and her own judgments. Here and now he would see exactly who she was and what she stood for.

"That's not true" she said pulling her hand out of the Spear Heroes "Ranma would never do that." Her voice sounded angry, well that was a switch, a women being angry on his behalf instead of at him.

He touched Raphtalia's shoulder and motioned her to follow, they had more productive things to do get into a screaming contest. Motoyasu did not take that well, he reached over to grab Ranma apparently wanting to say something more. It was at that moment when one of the women working here arrived with a tray of ice cold water one of the heroes had asked for.

In a series of events that could only make Ranma look up at the multiverse at large and ask "why". An ice piece in one of the cups fell out bounced off the tray with the drinks , that said piece of ice hit the ground just before her left foot touched earth. The Result was practicable at least by Ranma standards, the lady slipped and fell forward. The Bow hero reacted with commendable speed and kept her from crashing to the ground.

The eight cups filled with the cold water had to splash somewhere and as the whipping boy of creation it naturally landed on him. The transformation from boy to girl took place in an instant faster than the blink of an eye, perhaps as fast as light itself. Red hair replaced black and she was suddenly very grateful to be wearing cloth not armor or she was be in a lot of pain right now with the sudden chest size increase.

All that happened in the course of a several seconds and the Spear hero was still in the process of grabbing at Ranma. *ploink* Motoyasu froze as did everyone else. Ranma looked down as her chest to see his hand squeezing her left boob, there was an instant of crystallized silence then. *Squeeze*

Ranma reacted dropping low foot sweeping out, knocking the spear hero off his feet. Girl form's speed was truly something else, as she wiped her body around and up foot raising until it was horizontal with her body. The speed was such that the spear here was still suspended in air not quite falling yet. With a battle cry Ranma attacked moving her foot and leg in a drop kick like a falling guillotine.

The kick landed center in the Spear hero's chest and drove him into the marble floor like a railroad spike. Had her body been in male from that blow would done major internal injuries. Luckily for the spear hero Girl form was only half as strong. So instead of a shattered section of marble floor a mere shockwave of force kicked some dust up into the air was all that occurred to the building. The Spear hero's eyes went white and his body automatically gasped for the breath that had been violently crushed out of him. Ranma was about to switch to the Rikari Shield and make sure he didn't kill the man when he caught his breath and he eyes started to refocus.

No one else moved as Ranma turned from the fallen hero, not a jaw was closed in that moment as the the heroes and their companions started in abject shock. Ranma shrugged "Well now ya know."

Without another word she walked forward Raphtalia following quietly, the receptionist blinked in surprise as she passed her no doubt wondering just how the hell someone had gotten past her with being noticed. Far behind she heard one of the male companions yell "W-what the hell was that!"

Well whatever she had been planning on using her girl form anyway to visit other shops anyway, "Um Ranma-sama" Raphtalia said.

Ranma gave her a look "Ranma" she corrected "Should we not go get some hot water?"

"No" She shook her head "Since the hero of the shield has a bad reputation, I'm gonna use this instead."

"You really think that will make a difference?"

Ranma raised her eyebrow "Yes I do, and if there men even better"

"Why is that?"

"The two mountain discount"

"The two mountain discount?"

Ranma grinned "You'll probably get it by the end of the day, though we better hurry news will get around that this form is also me.

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The first place they stopped by medical shop where Ranma pawned all the usable medicine he had created. As it turned out the owner was male and given that Ranma's shirt was still soaked from the earlier water spill she managed to sell them for twice what she as expected.

They next was the magic shop, it was a large bookstore of sorts with shelves and shelves of magical tomes stacked together. Thanks to the Rosetta Shield if she took a moment she could make out the titles on the covers.

It would be slow going but she could now actually make use of books in this world, at the counter a plump old lady in a witches outfit waited to assist them. "Good afternoon young ladies" She said in greeting.

Ranma and Raphtalia nodded to her "Why brings two young ones like yourself here?"

"We want to see if we can use magic"

"Ah I see, wait a moment please," she reached under the counter and pulled out a crystal ball. Magic hummed in the air as she placed it on a holder "Young lady gaze into the crystal ball"

Raphtalia leaned over to look "As expected, the young lady of the Raccoon race is suited for light and dark magic."

Ranma blinked "That sounds really powerful"

The old women giggled "Let me clarify, light and darkness are not holy and void. Your companion has the potential to become quite skilled with illusion using light distortion and darkness."

"I see"

"Now it's your turn"

Ranma did the same thing Raphtalia had done leaning over to look in the crystal ball, she did not see anything strange but the Old shop owner made a surprised sound. "What the"

Ranma pulled away and together with Raphtalia they watched the old women study the crystal ball for a good five minutes. "Um miss could you look into the crystal ball again"

Even though that was strange Ranma did so again "That does not make any sense, such an affinity does not exist."

"Um what are you talking about it?" Ranma asked nervously

The old lady looked up at her eyes filled with something akin to awe "You young lady, you have the potential to be a legend."

"Um"

"I had you do this spell twice to be sure, but it seems you don't have one affinity or two. Your body literally seems to have every affinity for any form of magic."

Was that part of being a hero or was that something from the Jusenkyo curse "Wait" the women said "Oh, sorry my mistake apparently you don't have the water affinity but everything else is still there."

That sounded like the cosmic force she knew "I would suggest started off in only one or two areas girl but given time you will be quite versatile."

Ranma nodded "How much are beginner level books worth"

"Around three silver"

"Raphtalia can you read?"

She shook her head "Not very well"

"Ok, we will work on that, Miss?" she asked "My I buy the beginner's books of fire, holy, and void."

"I have fire but void and holy are controlled by the church and they don't give those out"

"Ok, fire, lighting, and wind then"

"Very aggressive are you sure you don't want healing in place of one of those?"

"I have that covered but thank you for your concern."

They exchanged the coin for books and exited the store giving the old women an affectionate farewell, Ranma paused at the door however "Um quick question, which stat helps with magic the most?"

"Intelligence" the old women replied promptly.

"I see, thank you"

That concluded the last of their errands in town time to head to Raffan by his reckoning if they booked it, it would be a day and a half trip. Now that would not leave much time for studying but from what she understood there would be more than once wave.

"Master are you going to change back?" asked the beastgirl.

She shook her head "I'm going to see if I can get some use out of this greater intelligence stat when we camp tonight see if it helps with studying the Rosetta shield.

Later that night Ranma finished the last six chapters of the book and the test that followed in the end of the book. Realizing that if she had done this in girl from in the first place the two and a half weeks this had taken to learn would have been cut to three days she spent the rest of the night crying tears of frustration comforted by a very confused Raphtalia.

Rosetta Shield

True Power Unsealed: See it match it (Any written language seen by the bearer of the shield will be seen as the language taught by the Rosetta Shield)

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So how was that, I tried to add a bit more humor since one of my reviewers reminded me that Ranma was also a comedy. Humor is not my strongest suit along with my editing so I hope I did ok. Anyway have a good fanboy out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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Here is the next chapter hope you enjoy.

P.S I don't own any of theses characters they are propriety of Rumiko Takahashi and Aneko Yusagi

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"I am the hero who commands the origin of power. I have read and deciphered the law of nature. Now burn in a flash of light!" "Etain ・Fireball"

A nice basketball sized sphere of flame rocketed towards a blackened rock, the red flames licked over solid stone causing no damage. But that was rather the point of firing at a rock and not a tree, "You did it Ranma" Raphtalia told him.

Currently in girl from Ranma looked down at her blistered right hand and arm, they had made it to Raffan in about the time she thought it would take them. So they spent time doing generally four things, Mornings were spent training as he tutored her in what he knew about katana and they exercised their bodies. The next was one spending time at the dungeon to try and get a few levels, Raphtalia having more success her at it due to her lower level. But she had managed to gain several of her own, her current lv was 22 whereas Raphtalia had reached 18.

Third she tutored Raphtalia in reading and writing which while going slowly, as her companion had no stat boosts in the language learning department but it was still going well.

And finally Ranma had been studying fire magic, one and a half days of solid training and reading and up till this point severe burns on her right hand. But now for the first time it had worked perfectly. She closed her eyes for a moment sparks of Ki licking out over the burned arm, blisters disappeared, burn skin was replaced color was restored to normal.

That done Ranma smiled a little at the sky "Ya I did it" Glancing back at the book "Though I am almost afraid of trying to learn the two other spells the book hold"

"Nonsense Ranma is not afraid of anything" she said.

"Were that only true" the redhead said with a shiver thinking of a monstrous creature that toyed with its prey out of sheer malice. A creature who followed little red dots, a creature whom fish feared, the …. Cat.

Ranma shivered shaking her head "No, no, no, Neko ken was not going to be helpful right here, right now.

They had around three days tell the wave and Ranma had a good idea of what she wanted to do tomorrow. From what she had been given to understand the dungeon they had been using, an old abandoned mine shaft had a boss somewhere in it. Even if it were killed a new one, normally the same exact thing as what was killed would take its place. Since being in close proximity to other Legendary Weapons stunted growth the other three Heroes had avoided this place altogether since the shield had been pointed this way.

She remembered several boys from school doing some dice game and calling it a dungeon crawler well she was about to do the real thing. But that was tomorrow until then she had another spell to try and learn something called Flame Trap.

When it had gotten dark Ranma returned to camp, she had taken the precaution of wearing her old clothing before starting magic training and it turned out to be a good thing. Most of her old shirt was gone, in fact it covered nothing important any more. That along with her pants holding together by threads made for an image that would have given Motoyasu a heart attack if he had seen it.

Flame Trap turned out to be a spell that created an inscription on the ground or wall or tree or whatever surface it was fired at. The trick was aiming the damn thing, as pointing fingers did not work since it was not a projectile. It had taken several tries to understand what was going on and by that time she had unintentionally created a potent minefield of fire traps.

As it turned out you need to envision the place where it was to be set in your mind and hold it there. Any other way and it was appeared randomly, she did not understand why such a spell was considered beginner class. Or perhaps it was just the ungodly amount of intelligence that her girl form had that made it dangerous.

"Ranma?" Raphtalia asked in surprise.

Even though they were both girls right now she still seemed a little taken aback by Ranma's chesticles but right now she found herself not caring. The last healing she had done on herself had ended with her not having enough Ki to finish up. So while nothing major remained the skin of her chest back and legs was raw and peeling.

So Ranma ignored the Raccoon girls startled expression and went over the large pool of water they had made their camp beside. With a groan of relief she walked out a few steps and fell face forward into the water. It burned at first the sudden shock of cold burning her raw skin but as she held her breath and waited the sudden pain to slightly fade.

Vaguely the water stirred as another person entered, Ranma sighed letting out the breath she had been holding and surfaced. Gentle hands touched her shoulders "Don't turn around" Raphtalia whispered.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm helping" she said "Hold still"

Hands glided over her back as some sort of balm where it spread pain faded to a small echo and Ranma found herself almost whimpering. Ya she was probably spending too much time in girl form or perhaps guy form would have been doing the same thing.

"That's gona wash off you know" Ranma said in a quiet tone.

"No it won't, these are your heal pills crushed up and mixed with several plants my...my mother once showed me it's kind of like a soap."

Ranma said no more simply luxuriating in the moving hands of her companions "Where else are you burned?"

Eyes still shut Ranma turned and the hands resumed their movements over her chest and stomach. They paused on a blotch of burns that covered a fair section of her side. "Did you do this?" she asked.

"No that was an enemy of mine, probably the most powerful enemy I ever faced. I won, with a lot of help and a lot of luck but I never could get rid of those. Divine fire is a bitch to deal with" Ranma groaned again and nearly slumped forward as Raphtalia's hands began to move again.

"Am I hurting you?"

"No it feels good" Ranma whispered.

When she had finished Ranma laid back letting her body's natural buoyancy hold her up, Raphtalia then went to work on her legs. "I have never felt anything like this" she whispered.

"What?"

"A woman's gentle touch, it's almost sad, sixteen years and this is the first time I can remember being touched without fear of pain to follow."

"That-that sounds terrible Ranma"

"I didn't think it was so bad, until now."

They said nothing more as Raphtalia worked her magic on Ranma's aching body when she was at last finished Ranma felt more like a puddle of pleased sleepiness. Raphtalia had to help her out of the pool onto her sleeping pad, the last thing Ranma remembered seeing was Raphtalia's lovely smile as the girl dried her off. About half way through that Ranma simply passed out too tired to do much of anything and it felt amazing.

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Dawn was starting to raise when Ranma woke up, Raphtalia was sleeping by her side naked as the day she was born. Ranma had to blink a few times to process that, had she just slept all night with a naked women.

...Best not to overthink that, a glance at the status screen showed MP back to full and her burns were gone as well. Wonderful, now to get breakfast started. The Raccoon Girl's nose twitched as the smell of meat and herbs wafted through the air. She mumbled something as began to sit up, Ranma cleared her throat loudly and that shook the girl awake, she took note of the state of her current dress and wisely reached for her clothing before moving the blankets.

"Ten years old, ten years old, ten years old" Ranma repeated in her head. "Body may be adult but mind is child….unless she was bull shiting me which is entirely possible."

"Good morning Ranma" she said kneeling by the fire warming her hands. The days were mild at best but early morning was cool. A mug of water began to boil as she did so, Ranma focused ki to her hand and picked up the blazing hot metal mug. With a sigh she dumped over her hand activating the curse. Girl became boy for the first time in several days, Raphtalia blinked at that "Do you have plans for today that don't involve magic?"

"Ya, me and you we are going to conquer that dungeon"

"Ah so why do you choose to fight in your male form?"

Ranma shrugged grateful for the sudden abrupt lessening of pressure of his spine, "Because I'm more comfortable this way and my magic skill is not up to par yet."

"I see" Raphtalia waited patiently as Ranma served them some of the stew he had been making. They ate together in silence, letting a comfortable atmosphere build between them, things like this only happened on the rare occasions when it had only been him and Kasumi eating together.

When that was finished Ranma went about putting out the fire and grabbing something that might be useful in a dungeon. Raphtalia spent her time fighting her armor on and looking over her Katana. Ranma had shown her everything he knew about taking care of such a weapon right down to the proper way to resheath the blade.

Raphtalia had taken all his lessons to heart and worked diligently to take care of the weapon. A side note upon further investigation over the past few days Ranma had concluded that yes drawing the weapon did darken the area.

Raphtalia had also informed him that as she gained levels the sword itself was gaining small damage increases. He had a feeling that this weapon was a lot more than it appeared it be but any attempt to scan the thing or red its info was met with a blank section where the words should have been.

Well just one other thing to keep an eye on, when everything was set they made their way out of the forest that had been there camping site and into the town of Raffan. The people it seemed were used to Raphtalia by now but he had made it a point to not enter the place as male. It only took a few minutes before his identity was known.

The atmosphere while not precisely becoming hostile did become more guarded and unfriendly. Women gave him a wide berth and the guards watched his movements closely. But he was not here to go into any buildings or make friends this was merely the fastest way to the entrance of the dungeon

The place it started at was an old mine shaft that monsters had taken over, in fact according to reports some of the creatures had mined further in moving beyond what humans had done. So far he and Raphtalia had stayed near the entrance fighting various three foot tall lizard men and goblins.

He had gotten the, Scale Shield which had a small defense boost and the Scavenger shield which gave a slight bonus to money found on dead monsters from fighting them.

So far nothing equaled that Stone Hide Shield but then again he had killed what amounted to a secret boss for it. The monsters at the beginning avoided them, apparently there had been some witness to the way they had been farming them. Survival instinct told them that it was pointless to mess with those two, let the stronger ones deal with them perhaps they could have the scraps.

Two hundred yards into the mine they reached and passed the first room where much of their time had been spent. Once upon a time it had been used for a meal room of sorts, now a days the monsters Ranma and Raphtalia had been fighting called it home. However as stated above there seemed to be nothing here at the moment.

Passing the room they entered further, the torch light that was used for this mine faded as apparently the things beyond did not need sight as much. Raphtalia picked one up and so did Ranma, then he paused, thumped his own forehead and sighed touching the torch to his shield.

Requirements for the Glow Shield have been unsealed

True Power Sealed: Equipment Bonus: Aura of light thirty feet.

The shield became smaller but stayed rounded, the green gem in the center began to glow with an inner fire. Thirty feet in every direction became well lit and the light of the Glow Shield made it only slightly difficult to see up to one hundred feet.

As the moved down a narrow hallway the monsters struck, howls of hunger and dark joy exposed as give things charged them. They looked somewhat like goblins only five feet tall and built like an American fake wrestlers. They wore only loincloths like their brethren but each had a large spear on hand, perfect for tunnel like this.

Ranma did not need to say anything, he had prepared Raphtalia on how to fight. He was the vanguard, he was tear a hole through the attackers and Raphtalia would ruthlessly take advantage of it.

The Glow shield did not give him extra defense and it was smaller than he would have liked but seeing was more important in this battle. He deflected the first spear and batted aside the second one with his bare hand. Then he was inside the effective range for the spear, he grabbed the second one by the face and threw him into the spear of his fellow while deflecting a third spear thrust.

Raphtalia made her move an instant after, the first one whom Ranma had ignored moved to set itself again but Raphtalia drew and struck at the same instant sending an arc of black ichor onto the mine walls. She parried that thrust of the forth one sliding along the spear shaft Katana at a downward angle. Before her opponent could recover she rammed into him hip to hip just like Ranma had taught her. A male's strength came from his chest and shoulders, a woman's strength came from her hips. The Goblin stumbled back and Raphtalia's Katana slashed upward ending him.

Ranma got the last only leaping clear over the body of the Goblin he had thrown on the spear and kicking the last one hard enough for its neck to snap.

Ranma 120 exp

Raphtalia 80 exp

Silver 2

Copper 120

Requirements for Scavenger Shield 2 unsealed

True Power Sealed: Equipment Bonus: Money increase (Moderate)

The moved on in the light of the glow shield coming out into an open cavern. Straight ahead was the path they were flooring to the left was the stone walls of the mountain. To the right was a drop into an abyss of blackness. Ranma took out a stone he had grabbed beforehand and dropped it, it fell for almost a minute before very dimly he heard it hit water. "Ok not going down there" he thought.

Above them just only of vision movement stirred the thumping of wing beats against the blackness. "Bats" he thought "Hopefully"

The stayed close to the wall warily listening for any signs that the winged creatures in the blackness would strike. However nothing changed as they reached the end of the large chamber and entered another tunnel. Vein's metal glowed around them and Ranma could see why this place had been mined.

They encountered around ten more of those hybrid goblins but even with the advantage of spears in a narrow space they could not stop Ranma's charges. And once the line was broken Raphtalia could clean up with ease. He found himself very impressed with her movements and actions it seemed she was a natural.

Soon the tunnel began to slope down at an almost alarming rate following a gold vein that had never gotten around to being mined. He found out why at the bottom, the pathway straightened out and moved on into darkness and it looked just like the rest of the mine.

They moved further one when they heard it, several low growling sound moving closer to them. "Get ready" he said unnecessarily, or so he thought.

When he did not receive an answer he looked back, Raphtalia was shaking her face what white to the lips eyes locked ahead of them where the sound was coming from.

Something was very wrong here, glowing yellow eyes opened in the darkness, three sets of them. The growls became fiercer as three shapes made their way into the light. Imagine a Doberman but bigger with more muscles and longer sharper claws. Now Imagine that it has two necks that split off from the same body and two heads with mouths filled with razor sharp teeth.

The moved forward slowly deliberately as if wanting to savor the fear that filled the air, Raphtalia's mouth opened but no sound came out. The confidence of an adult he had seen in her was completely replaced by a child's terror. He knew the look in her eye's it was the same one that filled his when he looked at cats. Utter mind numbing terror at a sight you never wanted to see. The dog demons growled again, and that was when she started screaming as if that was the signal the demons charged howling their joy.

The moved swiftly parting to either side, one would keep Ranma busy the other two would rip apart the screaming female. That was the plan and perhaps against most adventures of lv 20 level it would have worked.

They charged in an arrow formation the first reaching Ranma and the other two at its right and left. Raphtalia's screams were echoing in his ears and that meant rage had ignited his soul, he struck out as the first dog demon reached him. The blow was something he had not done since coming here, for in this moment he held nothing back. His fist struck right between the splitting necks of the dog demon and pulverized every bone in its body, the corpse's momentum was stopped and reversed the body flying backwards. When it landed it resembled a meaty paste that splashed all over the floor.

In the next instant the two other dog demons were at both his sides, he grabbed with one on left by one of its skulls and blasted the other point blank with Moko Takabisha. The ki blast chewed a hole through the chest cavity of right most dog demon and it went tumbling forward a little past Raphtalia whimpering is its life spilled out over the floor in a pool of black ichor.

Spinning in time with his grab he hauled the last dog demon over his head by main strength and smashed it against the wall with his full might. A loud wet *Splat* echoed through the cave network as Ranma dropped the broken corpse of the last demon.

He moved over to his companion who by now was just crying in pure terror, he pulled her tightly against him saying nothing. It took a while for her to calm down, he alternated between stroking her back and whispering encouragements and they had the desired effect.

She made no move to remove his embrace nor did she look at him "I have shown you something shameful" she whimpered "I'm sorry"

"What happened?"

She was quiet for a moment "I grew up in a small border town of demi humans, even as a baby I was not able to breathe as well as I should have. Our healer said it had something to do with my lungs and she kept it from getting worse. When the first wave hit our village was wiped out," She shuttered "There was a Cerberus among them a three headed dog of terrible power, we tried to run but the monsters did not care they killed everyone. My parents fled with me but became trapped at a cliffs edge, the Cerberus followed us. My parents tossed my off the cliff into the ocean before the monsters could get me."

Her voice failed her and tears started to fall again, "Somehow I got ashore and by the time I made it back up the knights and adventurers had subjugated the area. I found my parents later...what was left of them. I-I don't remember much after that clearly until I woke up in a circus tent tied up to be sold, like a piece of meat."

Growling sounds emanated from the tunnel, and Raphtalia's breathing quickened in terror. Ranma stood up eyes hidden behind the shadow of his hair. "Please" she begged "Don't leave me"

Ranma turned away from her to face the Dog Demons as four more of them rushed into the light. Ki danced along the body of the martial artist, his body trembled his breathing erratic.

The dogs were halfway to them when Ranma acted "ARHHHHHH!" he howled letting ki empower his voice, his rage transform the sound into an attack all its own. The Dog's stumbled to a stop gnashing teeth and whimpering eyes lowered as the sound played havoc with their superior hearing.

He charged them eyes bloodthirsty and filled with wrath, Raphtalia could only watch the havoc as her master tore the demons apart. It was horrible, it was beautiful, it was awe inspiring, and never had she felt more useless in her life.

He had trained her, he had shone her strength and what had she gained?

"Indeed what have you gained" a woman's voice asked

Time seemed to stop for the Raccoon Girl "Who's there?"

"It matters not"

The Black Katana in her hand pulsed "He has given you the means to fight but he can not give you with will to do so."

Raphtalia whimpered "Fear is natural child, fear is important, fear teaches, fear protects, but it is never a thing to let dominate."

She could not understand who, what was saying this?

"Do you know why he is angry?"

"Why?"

"Because he was not there to save your parents, that child belonged to another world, there is no way under creation that he could have changed anything that happened to you. And yet he still angers, he still bleeds for you. Are you really going to watch him and do nothing child?"

"I don't want to watch" she whispered

"Then stand girl, if you are worthy of me stand!"

Time resumed and body trembling Raphtalia stood, legs remembered how to move her teeth bared against the fear she moved. "Do not pretend the fear does not exist" The female voice said "But strike, strike so that what happened to you never happens to anyone else. Stand beside that boy and together face the evil that is coming!"

A battle cry erupted from her lips as she charged the demon dogs her master was fighting. She was afraid, she was terrified of those demons. But she could not let that rule her, she had to stand at his side not his back, she owed him no less.

And so she struck the jet black Katana cleanly slicing the beast, it howled in anger and snapped its twin heads at her. She flinched the vision of her parents being torn apart as she fell blotting out everything.

But nothing touched her, in the blink of an eye an arm had bared the beast's path both mouths clamping down on it with all their might. Ranma had used his bare arm to shield her from those fangs.

Something inside her snapped, her battle cry became something truly hellish to hear, she leapt over the dog completely bring her katana down on its back slicing clean through the spine. She landed in a roll avoiding the last demon dog and she came up her katana dis as well opening its side. It snapped at her and avoided one mouth and flicked her Katana across the other's nose. The Dog did as all dogs did when hit in such a sensitive spot, it flinched back Raphtalia ruthlessly pressed her attack laying open cuts on both heads ending its life in a slash that cut both of the dog's throats.

And still she cut it her howls echoing over the mine, a shadow moved and she slashed at it. Ranma caught her wrist with ease moving inside her range and pressing her tight against him. She fought him at first nearly berserk in her fury but he held keeping her wrist locked and holding fast his supernatural strength an undeniable constant. Slowly the fury died, her arms lowered her breathing went from heavy to slow and controlled.

Her body went limp suddenly exceedingly tired, neither of them moved as Ranma sank to the ground once again. "That was amazing" he said gently "I wish I could do that against my fear"

"Master does not fear anything" she whispered.

Just this once he did not bother to correct her about using master "Not true" he said "In this moment you have proven your mind stronger than mine in some way and I am proud of you."

Closing his eyes he channeled his ki into Raphtalia washing away the fatigue, she made a pleased sound that got way the hell too much of a reaction from his body.

He pulled her to her feet thankful that his clothing was baggy enough to hide his sudden arousal, there was no place for that here. Especially since he did not know if her mind was a child or not, he was now suspecting that it was something in between.

"Come let's finish this dungeon"

"Yes master"

Together they moved on fighting through several more demon dogs and giant goblins until the reached the last room. It was a large dome with crystal growing from the floor to the ceiling and magic coursed through the place enough to make Ranma's spine tingle.

In one of the crystals in the back of the room had seemingly grown around a chest leaving the thing suspended in the structure itself. In the center of the room another demon dog stood up from its napping spot, it had one head but the thing was twice the size of the other demon dogs. Along its spine and around its neck diamond like shards had grown flat along its body forming a sort of armor over those vital areas. It pawed the floor once and motes of blue light fell from its jaws. Fifteen more diamond like shards floated up from the floor and began to orbit the things body.

"Diamond Dog Lv 30" the shield told him

"What the hell kind of beginner dungeon is this?" Ranma asked the world at large.

...wait a moment, just who had told him about this beginner level dungeon? "….that bitch" Ranma muttered as he readied himself for battle.

"Raphtalia stay back its almost twice your level do not attack until we know what its attacks and specials are."

He said it in his command voice and Raphtalia knew better than to argue, she took a few steps away as the Glow shield morphed into the Stone Hide shield. He frowned then decided there was no better time to try out the shields ability. As he thought that words came to mind and he spoke them aloud "I am the conduct of those who come before, take shape at my will powers of old. Those that bestow victory and grace to the pure of heart, show me the proper path for I am Worthy!."

There was an almost sighing like sound from the earth, the wind which by an stretch of logic should not have been able to do anything this far into the mountain stirred his clothing. His skin glowed in a red aura that shrouded his body, the diamond dog howled and Ranma charged it. Ten of the orbiting diamond shards shot out like bullets from a gun. The stone hide caught most of them and of the three that it did not Ranma avoided two of them. The final one pierced his clothing and hit skin, it shattered leaving only a slight pin prick.

Then Ranma returned the favor and struck at the Demon's head, it was stopped by a shield of magic that surrounded the dog. Cracks formed along the shield at the blow and it seemed like one another punch would shatter it. He struck with his shield and the remaining five shards moved in front of the shield interlocking. The shield strike met the defense and two of the shards broke apart, the dog leapt back and howled. On reflex Ranma dove to the right as the nine shards passed the air where his back and been and returned to orbit around the diamond dog.

It howled again and crystal suddenly shot up from the floor at Ranma's feet, he leapt clear rolling in a smooth motion. As he came to his feet he tensed and leapt forward unleashing all his strength, the thirteen shards interlocked and he punched clean threw them hitting the magic bubble shield again. The shards had blunted that blow enough so the shield did not break. Ranma struck with his shield arm and remaining eight shards reformed to defend two breaking as they blocked the shield. The stone hide shield was too big, it spread his power over too wide an area to have the same affect his fist did.

The demon snarled and the crystal that had erupted from the floor broke into smaller pieces and shot towards the martial artist. Crouching slightly holding up the Stone Hide Shield he protected his head and chest letting his legs take the shard storm. Apparently twelve damage reduction plus his ungodly defense meant that his legs only took some minor cuts and abrasions from the equivalent of magic machine gun fire.

The six orbiting shards shot forward again all hitting this time but like the first one that had hid they exploded on hitting flesh. Ranma punched the shield again and it broke finally, the Diamond dog leapt back mana rising from the floor and gathering to the demon. It grew twice its original size, its maw opened and Ranma had to dodge that left a stream of new formed crystal in its wake.

The demon whirled to face its opponent and did not see Raphtalia's move, the Racoon girl blurred forward bring down a vertical slash cutting into the demon's vulnerable side.

The Diamond dog whirled to face the new threat but Ranma hit him, striking its large shoulder, in that moment he found something in this world was not pulverized by his brute force. Something did crack and he brought up his shield into him block the breath attack, he knocked him all the way across the room and into the crystal walls the attack flowing around him and solidifying into crystal.

The demon snapped at Raphtalia but she rolled under it opening a cut across its belly, it moved awkwardly trying to get in a position to attack but she managed to keep herself at his flanks or under it opening several more painful cuts.

Ranma flexed his entire body and the crystal encase shattered, the dog turned in time to see the biggest threat back in the fight. As the martial artist leapt for it, magic flared and a wall of crystal erupted from the ground. Ranma punched right through it but the wall slowed him and the Diamond dog leapt to the side biting at Ranma's head.

He blocked it with his Shield shoving it in the huge dog's mouth, Raphtalia took full advantage of being suddenly ignored, she focused all her energy her breathing, her timing, her angle. Then she struck at the demons hind leg, the black Katana cut true severing the back leg. There was a yelp of agony as the dog let go of the shield. Sensing a large amount of mana gathering Ranma rolled under the dog placing himself between it and Raphtalia. An omnidirectional wave of force shot out. The stone hide was great against physical but magical not so much, the shards were an exception because they were magically thrown physical projectiles but against pure magical force like this it did not block jack. So instead at the last second he stomped his feet into the ground up to his ankles and Raphtalia grabbed his waist.

He held for the instant needed and the wave passed, of course the dog was attacking now and his feet were struck in the ground. Raphtalia stepped in front of him her blade striking a line of red across the creature's noes. Like the lesser dog demons it flinched away giving Ranma the precious second he needed to get unstruck.

He capitalized on its moment of weakness and leapt in striking in a vicious uppercut, the dog had been readying another breath attack but the instant before it could fire the strike of Ranma shut its mouth and broke its Jaw completely. It was a double whammy because its breath attack tuned in on the demon itself wreaking havoc to its insides.

Ranma struck on last time leaping into the air Stone Hide morphing, the Hide of the Ancestors ability faded with it as the shield changed and was replaced with the Sword Horn Shield. With a battle cry Ranma drove the bladed shield into the Demons brain with all the strength as his command. There was a one last whimper before the thing fell at his feet dead its head destroyed by the attack of the shield hero.

Ranma fell back on his ass "Holy crap" he said to nobody.

Higher Level Boss Bonus, Rare Monster Bonus Lv mod 5, Lay Line Empowered boss Lv mod 15.

Exp Gain

Ranma 4000

Raphtalia 3500

Gold gain 55

Ranma Lv 30

Raphtalia Lv 27

Ranma laid back blinking at those words, he flicked to the help section "Level Mod: Circumstances that empower a monster beyond its level." Hm he muttered "Lay Line: A vein of magic that runs through the earth like blood through the body. Can be harnessed at specific places of power or by a mage who has achieved the Archmage title."

"Holy crap" Ranma said again as Raphtalia gave him a hand up "So even though it was level thirty it was like fighting a fifty...empty night"

He began the process of absorbing the Diamond dog into the shield, along with a broken piece of crystal from the walls.

Requirements for the Crystal Shield Unsealed:

True Power Sealed: Equipment Bonus: Magic Resistance (Medium), Special Effect Crystal Encase "By thrusting the point of the shield into the earth the user can cause crystals to erupt from the earth and entrap and opponent"

Combo Move Gaia Prison "Crystal Incase into Shield prison to create Gaia Prison"

The shield itself was a Kite shield similar to a crusader or Saxon shield and it was completely made of translucent green crystal.

Requirements for the Diamond Shard Shield Unsealed:

True Power unsealed: Tremor Sense 150 feet(A creature with tremorsense is sensitive to vibrations in the ground and can automatically pinpoint the location of anything that is in contact with the ground and within range) Equipment Bonus: Defense 5, Special Effect: Diamond Shot( The user points the tip of the shield at an enemy and fires a razor sharp shard at them)

The Diamond Shard Shield was like his small shield only slightly bigger the very edge of a shard top coming out of the bottom.

Requirements for the Diamond Dog Shield Unsealed:

True Power Unsealed: Magic Defense Bonus (Small) Equipment Bonus: Defense 5 Special Ability: Crystal Wall (Summon A wall of crystal from the earth to defend allies)

This shield was round with a open maw of a diamond dog emblazoned on its metal.

Piece by piece he he cut apart the Diamond dog and absorbed it into the shield keeping only the meat he was going to cook. Corpses were not things to leave around, they had a bad habit of stinking and he had gotten sick once when forced to spend the night with his Pa near a dead cow.

Finally with that finished he turned to the crystal with chest in it, he popped his neck loosened his arms and grabbed both sides of the crystal and began to squeeze. Raphtalia watched in silence as cracks started to form on surface, the cracks began to spread further and deeper as the earthen element fell apart before the physical might of Ranma Saotome.

The chest was made of metal and colored red with the symbol of a thornless rose emblazoned on its top. It was not locked or if it had been locked at one point was not anymore. Ranma opened the chest and looked inside, there were several things of interest. First the monetary gain, there were four emeralds, three rubies, and 20 gold pieces, and five jet black pieces of ore. Beyond that there was an earring made of obsidian, and two golden bracelets one had a faint ring of script inscribed around its outer band and the other looked to have a diamond fused to the top.

Raphtalia had her mouth open at the find, if her expression was any indication they had hit it big, he carefully picked up the earring and bracelets easily being able to tell they were magical in nature.

He made a note not to put them on until there purpose was figured out, "Can we get out of this place Ranma?" said Raphtalia interrupting his thoughts.

Standing up he nodded "Yea,lets go"

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Absolutely nothing bothered them on the way out it seemed killing the Diamond Dog nothing in that place wanted any part of them. In fact Ranma noted that the aura of dread that he had been feeling ever since entering the dungeon was fading. The bats in the wide room either were gone or made no sound, as they reached the entrance he thought he could see for a moment the backs of Goblins fleeing the cave to disappear into the woods.

Raphtalia seemed to notice it too "One of these places" she muttered.

"Pardon?" Ranma asked

"This was a special kind of dungeon a onetime event if you will. They show up from time to time, monsters seem to have a knack for taking over places of importance. The village that was near mine had a large brewery at one point, it was the cornerstone of the town. Then overnight it was attacked and taken over by monsters who made it into a dungeon the town never recovered and soon died as people left."

"So that means?"

"More than likely there is some kind of reward for clearing that place out."

"...Where would we go to find such a reward?"

As it turned out the Raffan had a small adventures guild office near the central marketplace, Ranma entered it looking around. It was clean well kept, with some chairs and a table that several adventures sitting around it talking about good exp farming areas and things they had found in their travels.

There was a rather dapper looking man sitting behind a counter slash dest with a large board above him listing jobs for the adventurer's guild. On the very top things about the mine dungeon were written. Apparently the town itself was offering one hundred gold pieces and a rare spellbook of the user's choice from the town's mayor.

He walked up to the desk and the man looked up at him "Ah Shield sama" he said seemingly without any malice

"That's me and you are?"

"Chester. C. Eliot" the man replied tilting his head.

Well that name was out of place but Ranma did not want to make a fuss about it "I cleared the mine" he said simply.

Conversation stopped as Chester's well-trimmed eyebrows raised "Really?"

Ranma reached into his pack and pulled out two diamond dog shards and several of its teeth "Will these be enough to show I killed the boss of that place, the Diamond Dog"

"Um, please wait a moment" He pounded his desk once and a boy came out from the back room "Take Jasper and go to the mine tell me what you find."

The boy nodded once saying nothing and went into the back room only to ride away on a giant lizard. Chester meanwhile took out a book with pages and pages of monsters and monster parts. He matched the teeth and the shards to the right description "You have killed a Diamond Dog but please let us make sure it was the right one."

Ranma nodded went to lean against the wall when he noted several of the adventures had left leaving open chairs. With a shrug he took a seat along with Raphtalia "What kind of spellbook do you want?" she asked.

"If we get it, I'm kind of hoping on that will allow me to identify items."

Chester glanced up from his books "Hero sama you just need to raise your appraise skill for that"

"How do I do that?"

"Experience, reading books about materials and magic buying and selling items you find. Most of the best appraisers are high class merchants."

"Should I take my stuff to one of them?"

Chester hesitated "You should do that only with stuff you want to sell, if you let a merchant look at a high class item odds are good he will short sell to you in hopes for getting it for himself.'

"Hmm, you any good at it?"

"I am well versed but it is not a skill I practice"

Ranma considered that for a moment and took out the earring and bracelets "What do you see when you look at these?"

He walked over to the man and placed them on his desk, the man looked pursing his lips "These are well made where did you find them?"

"Chest behind the Diamond Dog"

"Ahh, well these have a lv restrict of 40"

"Well that sucks" Ranma muttered putting a finger on the earing "Wait, now the restrict is gone"

"What?" He said taking his finger off it.

"Now it's back"

The looked at each other and Ranma picked up the two bracelets "Lv restrict is gone"

He put them down "And now it's back...do you have a Lv modifier item on you by chance?"

Ranma shook his head "Well that is quite strange perhaps it is part of being a hero?"

The Martial Artist shrugged "Well since that restrict is not a problem I'll tell you what they do."

He held up the bracelet with the diamond fused to it "This one has the ability to store up to one hundred points of mana and convert into SP"

Ranma flicked on the status bar looking, the screen flickered and the bar SP appeared below "Ki/mana"

"SP, this is the power used to awaken the abilities of the legendary items"

That was strange, but then again he had only used a Shield Ability just today and he had not been looking at what it cost him to use it that was very good to know. "This one" Chester held up the bracelet with the inscribed writing "It's very vague to me something to do with the wind, I apologize but I can tell you nothing more."

Ranma nodded "That was more than I knew a second ago, please don't apologize." He picked up the black earing "What does this do?"

"Ah that one I do know, it is one in a rare series of ear ware created by the Legendary Queen Morrigan. It is quite a rare find and sells for a fortune to the right buyer."

"What does it do?"

"...Is that really a question?"

"What?"

"Queen Morrigan made them that would be a clue"

"I come from another world who is she?"

"Oh, my apologies shield hero Queen Morrigan Aensland was and perhaps still is the Queen of Succubi"

Ranma's arm went ramrod straight holding the earring as far away from himself as possible, slowly he turned and placed the earing inside a bag, which he then put in another bag and stuffed it in the bottom of his pack.

"I see you have been burned by charm effects before?"

"One time a charm made me think I was in love with the guy" Ranma shivered at that memory it had almost gotten him buried alive.

Chester did not say anything seeming to know that perhaps some things were better left mysteries. There was a sound of movement the large lizard the boy had been riding padded back to behind the guild office. The boy came out from the back a few seconds later looking excited "It's gone master, the aura is gone. I even saw dog demons fleeing the mine and growing smaller by the second."

"Well Shield sama it seemed you have earned yourself the reward, Chester went back to the safe and opened it handing Ranma a sack "One hundred gold coins sir, if you will follow me."

Chester glanced at the adventures remaining and they quickly left the office, he led Ranma and Raphtalia outside where he flipped a open sign to closed. Leading them on a walk through town they ended up at a large house near the northern end. Chester opened the house with a key and led them in "You're the mayor?" Ranma asked.

"Oh no the mayor is out for the rest of the week he went to the capital to try and get knights to come clean out the mine but with the wave prospects were not good. He left me the keys on the off chance anyone managed to do it while he was away. Chester led them to a small library within the home "Please choose any one of the spell tomes you wish but only one."

Ranma nodded and began to have a look, he avoided the fire section not wanting to try any of those advanced spells just yet. There were no lighting element tomes surprisingly and he questioned about that "The mayor was hit by a lightning bolt as a child never wanted to even collect books about that."

"Fair enough" Ranma said.

He went to where the wind tomes were, he had not yet even done a wind spell but they could not be as bad as his experience with fire. He found a book bound in gold trim titled Mastery with the symbol of Air below."

Well it would be a long time before he could be able to pull that off but still when the time came...he picked it out and showed Chester "I see I would highly recommend not trying anything from that before you have gained skill with that element."

The Martial Artist nodded solemnly he had not planned on even opening this book for a while, it would give him something to strive for. Raphtalia had been pretty quiet up till now her eyes distant in thought, saying goodbye to Chester they made their way back to camp. "Is something wrong?" he asked her.

She blinked sharply snapping out of her thoughts "Hm?"

"Are you ok"

Her eyes met his "I am much better than I have been in a long time."

Ranma nodded "Raphtalia?"

"Yes"

"After this wave, let's hunt down that Cerberus."

She was silent until they arrived back at camp, it was perhaps six thirty by his reckoning. "Master" she said "The knights managed to drive it off but only because there were sixty of them, there is no need to endanger yourself." Her lip quivered but she did not cry "My parents are dead, nothing can bring them back."

Ranma sighed and put his arm around her shoulder, which was hard since she was taller than he was "Even if it won't bring them back a monster like that needs to be taken down."

She said nothing "If you want I go get it by myself" Ranma said.

"NO!" she said in a panic, probably because she knew he would do it by himself if it came to that.

"Ok then" Ranma walked over to the pool and splashed some of the water over his head, the cures activated and he became she. Returning to their things she undressed and put back on her clothing from her world. The once pants now shorts covered enough for a comfort though the shirt was a lost cause, with a sigh she set it to the side and with Raphtalia's help she wrapped her chest in something akin to medical gauze. "Are you not tired Ranma?"

She shook her head "Na I want to work on magic a bit more before crash, tomorrow we do nothing, we rest up and prepare for the wave."

Raphtalia nodded and after a moment of thought moved to follow her, Ranma glanced at the beginner's tome of fire and made a face. She moved her hand over to the book of wind and brought it along with she would finish fire later when the memory of the burns had faded.

Leaning magic was at first almost boring, it involved Ranma leaning against a tree reading the beginner's wind tome. It was surprisingly scientific in the way it described how the spell worked, but a good chunk of mysticism was thrown in as well speaking of how mana interacted with the wind.

It was growing dark by the time Ranma felt prepared to attempt the first cast of a spell it was a simple wind blast designed to knock an opponent back.

"I am the hero of the shield who commands the origin of power. I have read and deciphered the law of nature. Now flail in the embrace of the wind" "Zephyr・Wind Squall"

To her complete shock it worked the first time letting her emit a jet of wind that would have knocked a human tumbling. "That was awesome" Raphtalia said eyes shining "And on your first try."

"No one is more shocked than me" Ranma assured her looking at her hands. What had been different about that? She had the affinity for fire but wind had felt much easier, granted moving air was different than messing with heat and energy. Perhaps wind had a higher tolerance for mana overcharge or was it that fact the she had mastered Hiryu Shoten Ha which while mostly based on the manipulation of hot and cold ki did cause a tornado, just to be sure she did the spell several times with the same result. Ok then perhaps time to move on to the second spell "Wind Bullet"

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They slept in the next day waking only when their stomachs demanded food, Ranma also boiled some water and changed back into a man. The day was spent lazing around with Ranma reading more about wind magic and Raphtalia working on her language lessons. They were both very good at saying nothing while still being comfortable, in fact the entire day they hardly said one word to each other. They had one more night of rest and then if Ranma judged correctly around noon the next day the wave would hit.

It was evening before the silence was broken "It's coming master" Raphtalia said

"Ranma" he corrected her "And ya the wave is coming"

"I'm afraid"

"Completely normal, even I am afraid"

"You're afraid you won't be able to save everyone, I afraid for my life it's not the same."

"Raphtalia, Its normal, is what mortals do, by most reasonable standards I'm insane compared to normal people. But even I fear for my life, I just consider the lives of others more important. A martial artist protects the weak it is because they have more power than others that they must do so. Now that I am the hero of the shield well that responsibility is tenfold."

"You really are like her" a voice said

Both of them jumped to their feet but the female voice laughed "No, no, I'm right here"

The black katana pulsed from its resting place dark but not malicious energy flowed from its plain scabbard. "A talking sword" Ranma said "Somehow I am not surprised"

"As a fulcrum of Chaos I should hope not child"

"I don't know if you just insulted me but I'm gona assume not...so any reason for talking?"

The sword said nothing more and after a few minutes waiting they realized it was not going to,

"Well now we know the blade is sentient perhaps that's why its stats are growing with you."

Raphtalia gulped "She helped me back in the dungeon but still it kind of scares me that it's alive."

"If you stick around with me I promise you that a talking sword is going to be one of the least surprising things to happen."

"You're not joking are you?"

"Not in the least"

The next day came and the timer was almost finished counting down "Ready?" Ranma asked shield in its Stone Hide form. Raphtalia took a cleansing breath "Ready" she whispered.

"I will protect you" he assured her as the timer went to ten seconds.

"And I will protect you" she told him back as the timer reached five.

He gave her a wide grin "Now that's the spirit"

The timer reached zero and Ranma and Raphtalia were shrouded by the magic of the Dragon Hour glass as time and space bent to its will sending them to the start of the wave.

It was time to begin the legend, it was time to watch the Rise of Ranma Hero of the Shield.

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Hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it. Have a good day Fanboy out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

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Wow this chapter ran long, but I still had fun writing it so it fine.

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A deafening sound echoed throughout the world as everything changed and shifted with the sudden teleportation. The first thing Ranma noticed was the sky, it was dyed an eerie red that seemed to pulse with the beat of ones heart. Cracks, cracks in the freakin sky began to appear reality seeming to be peeled back. The fucking sky was breaking apart. Vague shadows of creatures began to claw their way out of it and a torrent of howls and shrieks hit them like a pressure wave

"Ranma" Raphtalia shouted.

He looked and noticed what she had seen, they were standing on a road in the middle of farmland with a mountain to their side. "What" he asked about to move "

"Look" she said pointing

There was what looked like coal mine "Where are we?" he asked.

"I think we're near Ryute Village"

That had been another possible place for them to have gone but Raffan had been stuck in his head the whole time so they decided to do that instead. "Given the fact that the country did not know where the wave was going to hit he got the idea behind Raphtalia's words. Ryute was could not have been prepared properly.

A group of people rode past him mounted on horses, the three other heroes and their twelve companions moving at fast clip towards the Wave of calamity. Even from there the masses of dark monsters could be seen smelt and heard. That was perfect they could strike the monsters while they were gathering and draw the attention he on the other hand could...

A large group of monsters split off from the main bunch that thickened where the heroes were headed. A arrow of light flew into the air and exploded, some kind of signal, his eyes followed the branching monsters, if the road at his back led to Ryute than those creatures were headed its way and they were closer to it than he was currently.. Behind him he could hear the marching of footsteps and the pounding of horse, it sounded like an large group headed to the wave. Well that made sense these were the forces that had stopped the first wave, between them and the three heroes they should at least last long enough for him to deal with the splinter group.

Picking up the Raccoon girl who blushed but did not complain he began to dash at towards the horde of monsters aiming a little bit ahead to try and meet their vanguard from the front. As it turned out by doing this he found himself at the town of Ryute a mere thirty seconds before the horde would reach them.

Adventures and soldiers alike stood ready their faces pale outnumbered hilariously they knew there was very little chance this would turn out well. But stand they did ready to face the wave of darkness about to engulf them, he put down his companion she would have to walk the rest of the way to the battle he had something to do. He gave Raphtalia one last nod before he started running.

He jumped clearing the line of adventures and soldiers, the men and women stared in shock as the suicidally outnumbered hero of the shield charged the horde of darkness. Even the monsters seemed to be able to feel a bit of shock as the slowed for the barest instant. There were locust like monsters, skeletons with weapons, ghouls with weapons. Swarms of large wasps that belonged in nightmares, and in its center a large monster. A Ghoul fifteen feet tall and build like a brick wall. A brick wall that wore armor and had an axe big enough to split a well sized tree down the middle with ease.

That one was Ranma's target, the otherworldly martial artist clashed against the wave of calamity for the first time. The wasps were the vanguard and there where the first monsters to reach him. Perhaps one hundred in all, they died in the first moments. Every single one of the attempt to swarm the Hero stingers flaring out like daggers ready to tear rend and pierce flesh.

Ranma jumped a few feet into the air and spun, it felt like so long ago since he had learned this incredible ability Kachu Renshin Amaguriken from which after rigorous training the student will have developed an amazing speed, allowing him/her to throw a thousand punches in the time it usually takes to throw one. When a move is made by a master of this art, it seems like nothing more than a blur and the offense and defensive moves are nearly indistinguishable.

And Ranma Saotome while not the most powerful master of anything goes...yet... he was without a doubt the second. And master meant master, to the eyes of the soldiers and adventures it was exactly that. A blur of fists one hundred deflections and several hundred attacks over the blink of eye. The wasps exploded, literally becoming almost unrecognizable, even as he landed the martial artist was moving.

A line of skeletons stood in his path blades flailing as he avoided ones slash and with a massive punch send the armored body flying backwards breaking through several other skeletons and two locust's. He blocked a blow on his right as he stepped through the hole he had made. He kicked out with his left leg sending the poor skeleton through ten of its compatriots. The monster moved to surround but even as they did he charged up and threw Moko Takabisha straight in front to him. The blast of pure life tore through the skeletons and ghouls like butter tearing a straight line to the biggest monster in the horde glancing of its armored leg and into a group of Locust's where it exploded killing scores.

Ranma charged the gap, had he been in girl from he would have made it to the monster easily, but in guy from about half way through weapons began to strike, swords, claws, spikes, using his shield to protect his head he let his body take most of them, and every single one glanced on him. Several of the more rusted sword simple shattered to pieces, his clothing and skin combined turned claw and fang as if it were the strongest plate mail.

So this was the power of the shield hero, hell he was properly tougher than Ryoga now. The one area of combat his rival had surpassed him in, but now it seemed things had changed. The large ghoul let out a roaring battle cry as Ranma neared him and the gap his ki blast had created closed. With a laugh of pure battle lust he jumped using the heads of the monsters as stepping stones.

The Shield morphed into the Sword Horn from as he leapt to the side still balancing on skeleton heads to avoid a mighty swing from the head monster. The swing cracked the ground and destroyed about ten of its own monsters as Ranma focused his ki to his legs and leapt forward and up destroying the monster he had been standing on with the force of it.

He just made it over a horizontal cut from the huge axe and Ranma stuck as he smashed into the creature's head the Sword Horn piercing flesh and bone alike. Backed by his guy form's supernatural strength the things head simply exploded grey matter raining on the monsters behind it. The large body fell backwards crushing more of the monsters beneath its dead weight.

Ranma by in the first ten seconds of battle had killed the commander and a fourth of the monster horde. That was when the town defenders hit them Raphtalia the point of an arrowhead formation of soldiers and adventures.

The horde was already in disarray and the unity became shattered as that happened, Raphtalia was a monster on the battlefield, her Katana sheared bone, flesh and chitin with equal impunity. Her body bent and swayed using her agility and strength to its fullest as she ducked a blow and cut the creature that had done it in half at the waist. Moving forward her blade blurred as she moved past four ghouls. There was a pause before black Ichor shot everywhere and bodies fell to pieces.

Ranma jumped off the body and began treating thought any monster close enough, whether through bravery, stupidity or they simply did not care the monsters did not flee from him. Locusts dashed forward only to be thought back there chitin exoskeletons shattered and there life fading with the black Ichor the monsters had for blood. Those watching would later recount an almost whirlwind like blur of motion as anything that came within ten feet of the shield hero left that area looking like they had gone through grinder.

Intermixed with the deadly assault of fists, feet and pointy shield several more lethal balls of ki were thrown out hitting groups of monsters who looked like they might be regrouping. The Town defenders also did well, there weapons were empowered by the aura of the Sword Horn which raised allied attack. The monsters were weaker from the same aura which lowered theirs. Several of the defenders almost fell but the Shield Hero or his companion were always there at the right moment, taking hits if necessary to save the lives of the defenders.

The battle ended in three minutes as the last of the monsters were finished off by the defenders. Ranma took a moment to catch his breath and made his way over to Raphtalia, who was bleeding from several cuts, he himself only had some minor bruising so he ignored that and closed his companions wounds with a touch to the shoulder, ki healing was an amazing thing.

Ranma turned to look at the otherworldly crack in the sky, he needed to get over just in case things were not going well "Raphtalia" he said.

"Yes Master" she answered understanding his intentions.

"Ranma!" he stated "Not master" he grabbed a bottle from his side and dumped it over his head, and boy became girl they needed speed right now.

Girl from was still strong enough to easily pick up Raphtalia, around her the town defenders stared with their mouths open. Well that happened a lot "Make sure to watch out for stragglers" she told them before dashing off towards the wave.

She had never before moved at full speed, but here and now for the first time she did. Raphtalia held on for dear life as the world took on a strange stretched look. The crack in the sky grew bigger and bigger at an alarming rate as Ranma arrived on the scene of the battle.

They had been coming up a hill and she had lept skyward clearing one hundred feet as for a moment they seemed to glide over the battlefield. It was a good way to see what was happening, the forces of Melromarc was facing the wave head on. The crack from which the monsters were pouring through acted as a choking point part of the forces were trying to keep it contained while the other part was facing the ones that had gotten through. It seemed the heroes companions had split up among those groups. The beefier warriors were with the part of the army holding back the gate while the mages supported the Knights and soldiers involved in the open part of the conflict.

She spotted the other three heroes a short distance away from all this fighting a rather tough looking creature. It stood fifteen feet tall on all fours with the wide strong shoulders and paws of a lion. Its back end was black with sharp goat like hooves and where its tail should have been was as black snake that looked venomous as hell.

The creature had three heads in the front centermost being the black head of a lion with a mane of blood red. To its left was the head of a dark furred goat with curling obsidian black horns and acid dribbling from its lips and mouth. One the right was the head of a black scaled dragon had spit fire at any opening it could see. Each head had eyes that glowed red with dark power and its movements were faster than a creature of its size should have been able to do.

But the three legendary heroes seemed to be faring quite well against it, Itsuki was standing far back moving between mounds of dead monsters. Every time one of the heads tried to use its breath attack it got an arrow in the roof of its mouth. Even if it did not stop the attack it did make it highly inaccurate. Itsuki was front and center with the thing Motoyasu right behind him the legendary sword dealt ferocious wounds to the neck and body of the monster and whenever a head went for him or the poison snake tail stuck Motoyasu was right there with a pike like spear warding away blows with agonizing thrusts.

"Hold on" she cautioned Raphtalia as they began their descent, the knights on the frontlines of combat had seen a lot. It had been there blood and sacrifice that had allowed them to survive the first wave when there had been no heroes. They had fought monsters from the deepest nightmares and kept their sanity, but a dead drop gorgeous redhead carrying a beautiful Raccoon girl hurtling from the sky was a new one. Especially when the girl landed on top of a ghoul crushing it into a pulp put down the other girl and then seemed to blur in every direction in a single instant.

What was even more shocking was when every monster within a fifteen foot area of the girl was sent flying with broken necks, spines and other less pleasant but lethal injuries.

"The heroes seem to have got that monster under control" she told Raphtalia "You say with the lines and help them as much as possible"

"Master what are you going to do?"

"Its Ranma dammit and I'm don't worry about it."

Turning to face the enemy Ranma charged her ki empowered battle cry echoing over the entire area of combat. She was moving so fast that it seemed like there were ten of the her at once. Each strike was sent to a lethal area as she had not the strength of her male from to pulverise things into paste. But lethal strikes were exactly what they sounded like and monsters died around the rampage of the Shield Hero.

The monsters themselves quickly noticed the change; within their ranks tearing them to shreds was single human girl with a shield. As one the back ranks fell upon the foolish mortal only to find a web of death, every strike a miss, every charge blunted. A few strikes found their mark only to be turned by the power of the shield one or two managed to hit flesh but nothing happened.

The flow of the battle changed then, it was not the humans fighting desperately to simply hold a line. Now the monsters were fighting to hold a semblance of order as a Ranma Saotome tore apart their lines like paper.

Three of the giant ghouls charged her, perhaps out of all the monsters here besides the one the other heroes were fighting they were the only ones capable of doing any damage. But they were big and most of all slow, they could no more hit Ranma then they could hold down a cloud, then they could capture a moonbeam.

The lightest jump carried her over the axe swing, she landed on its haft running up it and jabbing the sword horn through the first's ones brain. As it fell back she leapt off it on to the next one performing the same kill strike leaping up this time. The axe swing from the third missed by a hair's breadth and even as the metal had passed under her she pushed off it using it as leverage. Her shield morphed into the diamond shard shield. Pointing it like a gun at the last ghouls eye while upside down she fired and a shard width of a thumb and forefinger touching and the length of the shield itself shot out like a bullet.

It pierced the eye and had enough force to protrude out the back of the things head before it stopped. As she fell skeletons bunched up spears held up to skewer her as she fell, with a manic grin her hands moved and she caught hold of one of the spear heads balancing her body straight up. The haft bent but did not snap, so like a pole vaulter she used it to flip over the group of monsters and land behind them. They died or re-died in the case of the skeletons in the next instant as blows attack joints and other important parts broke them to pieces.

That broke the dark army that had escaped the crack, its sub commanders were dead. Its formation shattered and a swath of their army had been decimated by the hero of the shield. Ranma sensed rather than saw this and with a leap that carried her above the battlefield she resurveyed the situation. Whoever was commanding the soldiers and knights knew what they were doing, fully half of the forces that had been battling in the field had been transferred to the gate force. Even at half strength the army of the field was in no position to lose anymore thanks to the pure havoc Ranma had wrecked on the forces of the wave.

The Heroes were still in battle with the Chimera and since that seemed to be the next biggest threat on the field that was where Ranma headed. She landed back where she had leapt from aimed herself and jumped at a diganial shield changing back to the sword horn.

Her aim had been true and for an instant she closed her eyes and focused power into the sword horn charging it with her ki as is she was doing Moko Takabisha. Like she expected the shield changed the way her technique worked, the horns glowed as if under intense heat and the glow turned to brilliance as the light merged. Her shield gave off the impression of having a single blade of light rather than two razor sharp horns that it truly was.

She arched the jump at about three hundred feet in the air and began decent, Sword Horn extend she plummeted towards the chimera like a small comet. At any other point in the day the creature might have noticed that but it was furious and desperate as the three insects before it turned out to be a deadly threat.

What was supposed to happen was Ranma crashing into and striking its back and stunning the creature. After all this was the boss of this wave was it not?

What actually happened was slightly different, The heroes and monster looked to the sky at the last second as Ranma with a blazing shaft of pure life smashed into the monster. Smashed and went all the way through it… Everything fell still as the Chimera gasped as its body registered a Ranma sized hole through its back, spine and chest.

The hero of the shield was just as surprised as everyone else at just how much damage had occurred, perhaps the other heroes had been on the verge of killing it already?

The Chimera fell over with a loud *thump* as the heroes of the sword, spear and bow stared slack jawed at the girl before them. Ranma looked over at the corpse frowning the diamond dog had been way tougher than that.

Well whatever not like it mattered, now she just had to go help the gate guard "You three we're needed at the gate lets end this wave."

She did not wait for a response as she dashed past them becoming a crimson blur as she raced across the battlefield. With a tensing of the legs and leap her body flew once more across the field, over the battle lines at the gate and into the center of the creatures trying to push through. More things died as the shield hero tore her way through any within her path, as before nothing could stop her, nothing even came close.

A sound filled the air, a horn whose sound sent chills down the spines of any who heard it. As one the monsters pulled back retreating as above them the sky began to close. Ranma gave them no reason to dawdle as she continued to massacre whomever she could reach.

Faster and faster the crack began to close and Ranma grabbed a ghoul before it could enter. "I dont know if you can speak or relay messages but just in case tell whoever is sending you and your like that the legendary heroes are back and we will annihilate anything sent against us."

Lifting the ghoul in the air she made sure it surveyed the battlefield took in the carnage that had been wrecked. "Now get out of my sight" she tossed the monster back through the crack just as it finished closing.

And with that the second wave was over.

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...Well at least the fighting part.

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It took a few minutes to find Raphtalia, she was with the soldiers killing off the remaining monsters. Seeing that she was alright Ranma turned away and made her way to off the field of battle. She managed to scarf down some food on the run before she made to the spot she wanted. The battle had been sudden quick, and no prior planning could have fixed what came next. The wounded, the dying lying in rows on the ground moaning in pain or screaming in agony. Most of them had been conscripts gathered together only the core of the gate guard had looked like professional soldiers

The battle had been easy for her but for these men it had been a life or death struggle, nurses in nun like outfits and clerics casting spells, doctors closing wounds moved among the wounded. Each waging their own private war with death, the Sword Horn morphed into the Reiki Shield and she went to work. Starting on the nearest one a young man a bit older than her lay gasping, she touched his heart and stomach.

Chest, lungs, parts of his ribs were punctured, Ki flowed out of her mending, fixing, healing, twenty seconds and done. She did not stop for a moment moving to the next one, a nurse's eyes widen in fear as she saw the shield hero. But the fear left for wonder when a man who had been nearly disemboweled was restored.

Ranma ignored the sudden looks as others realized what was happening, this one taken a spear in the gut, the wound was not deadly but some sort of rot was worming its way through his body. The Ki burned that away mending skin and bone alike, and after than another and another, soon the nurses, doctors, and clerics, stopped their glances the shield hero was saving lives right now and they had to do the same.

Hours passed as Ranma and the others labored, pages ran among the clerics handing out potions that restored mana. They yelped when Ranma grabbed several of her own but after downing them and going back to work the pages made it a point to bring her some along with the rest of the healers. Again who ever ran this army must have know something like this would happen and they had at least made sure the healers would not run out of power.

Granted the potions did nothing to help the exhaustion but nothing was perfect, three hundred soldiers had been involved with the battle. Even with Ranma's help a fourth had taken wounds of some kind, and half of those men had been wounded bad enough to end up here. But the healers, every single one of them worked until they dropped. Two or three dropped, got back up again and started working. Ranma followed their example moving from person to person healing and saving.

Raphtalia found her later that night tents had been set up over the day and patients moved to beds, cots, hay beds, anything more comfortable than the ground. Most of the healers were asleep, passed out from pure exhaustion only Ranma and several of the strongest clerics remained standing.

Ranma was standing over the last person left in the tent she was in, it was another young man. He was badly burned with acid that had eaten away a good portion of his skin and both his eyes one of the unlucky ones who had caught a stray blast of acid from the Chimera. The last mana potion delivered to her lay on the floor drained and as Ki flowed from the hands of the shield hero skin began to regrow. It took every last drop of power to rebuild the eyes and even then it was not the man's original color. They green as Ranma's own now and they blinked open watering at the sudden light that had pierced the darkness and saw women standing over him. Her tired eyes determined, her fair skin matted with sweat, dirt and blood. A body hardened by training and combat, she was beautiful, she was "Minerva" he said.

Those awake those who had been saved by the hero of the shield heard that word and saw that it was fitting "Minerva" they said as if in prayer.

Ranma stumbled and might have fallen but for Raphtalia catching her "Master" she said gently "You've done enough"

Ranma opened her mouth to protest but could only groan in protest, Raphtalia ignored it and carried the martial artist out. Said martial artist was too weak to do much of anything and by the time they were halfway to the spot the Raccoon girl had prepared for them Ranma passed out.

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Some inconsiderate asshole woke her up the next morning with a horn none the less, the sleep Ranma had gotten allowed her to get back to her feet and Raphtalia was right there looking like she had been up all night.

A man sat on a horse looking down at her frowning "I was told this was were the shield hero was sleeping where is he?"

Ranma waved her arm with the Shield on it "What" she groaned as her stomach gurgled.

"My message is for the"

She gave him a glare that almost made him wet himself, and the horse was riding simply let loose its bowels right then and there "I'll...make...sure...it..gets..to..him" she said in clipped voice.

"Um, ok they king is putting on a feast for the hero's their presence is requested by the king so he may give them their rewards."

"The king made it quite clear to m...to the shield hero that he was not welcome."

The courier shrugged "I'm merely the messenger"

Ranma sighed "You can tell the king to go screw himself; I have to get back to healing the wounded."

"Um master" Raphtalia whispered "New healers arrived this morning and you healed the last one in critical condition before you passed out."

"Oh" her stomach growled again "Never mind don't tell him that, we will be there." Ranma paused and shrugged "Let's go see if we can borrow horses"

They passed a nurse serving bowls of soup to men in line and Ranma looked at it longingly, on of the men saw her looking "Minerva" he whispered. Every soldier turned and as one they moved out of the way clearing the way to the soup caldron. Ranma blinked, well this was strange but perhaps they were rewarding her the best they could for helping them.

She walked up quickly to the nurse who gave her a look something in between revulsion and respect. That was new one even by her standards she took two bowls of soup one for her one for Raphtalia and walked away. The eyes of the men following her until she was out of sight, "What's going on Raphtalia?" she asked.

"I don't know" The Raccoon girl said just as confused as her master was.

"Hey you" Ranma called out to one of the non wounded soldiers, the man snapped to attention like he was being reviewed. "Yes"

"Um...at ease?" there was an awkward pause "Do you know where we can borrow some horses?"

"I know how you can talk to Shield sama" the man said still ramrod straight. He pointed to a tent among the many, it was larger than the others around it but no overly so. "Captain wishes to speak with you."

"What for?"

The man shrugged "I don't know, I'm just a soldier"

The two made their way over to the aforementioned tent it had two well armed, immaculately dressed almost Knight looking men guarding the entrance. "Captain wishes to speak with me" Ranma told them.

"My apologies miss the captain wishes to speak with only you can you companion wait out here?"

"Its fine" Raphtalia told her before things could get awkward.

Ranma moved forward and the men stepped to the side in perfect unison, inside the tent was a plain cot, one chest and desk that looked like it could be pulled apart and moved at a moment's notice. The Captain stood behind it facing the entrance to the tent, to many who first looked upon him he was an unremarkable man, tall with light grey hair and a plain face if it was not for his huge shoulders. Armor always made them look bigger and right now they looked almost deformed, he was taller than her with grey eyes that had seen much, lost much and won much.

Ranma however saw more, the eyes had a strength in them, not the raging fire that powered herself or the strength of stones that underlie the old ghoul Amazon elder. Nor the divine wrath that and rage that was the Phoenix god Saffron. No it was something different something Ranma found more impressive, there was a strength there older and humbler. As steady and sure as the rolling hills, as set in place as the mountains themselves as unchanging in the face of turmoil as the waters of a deep well. This man was dangerous not for his power but for who he was, a kindred spirit one who protected the weak.

"Greetings" he said voice low and rough "Shield hero?"

"Its a long story" Ranma said "And to make it really short certain events cause me to be either man or women."

"Hm" the Captain said "I will not pry, I am Captain Cyril Commander of the Queens first"

"Ranma Saotome hero of the shield"

They exchanged grips and the man's hand was strong, Ranma noted a greatsword leaning against one of the tent posts. "You wished to speak with me?"

"I wished to thank you for your efforts in yesterday's conflict and the aftermath, I was front and center with my men on the field when you arrived." A strange grin flashed over his face for a second " It was a thing of beauty to watch those monsters torn apart."

Ranma returned the exact same grin "Happy to help"

"Your arrival changed the way we could fight, with you there I was able to reinforce the gate force and stop the flow of reinforcements completely. Then when you brought down the Chimera and got the other heroes into the gate guard they were able to push them back."

He looked away eyes distance "Twice before we have battled the wave but never have we managed such a crushing victory." Eyes turned back to Ranma "I saw the other heroes fight, they were good but you, what you did was on a completely different level."

"I had an advantage when I came here" Ranma explained "I was already strong"

Cyril pulled out several scrolls "According to our best best guess we were outnumbered four to one so there were around twelve hundred in battle and that is not including the force that went for Ryute Village. You practically single handedly annihilated the four hundred or so monsters, that attacked it. Thank you by the way for saving the village"

"No problem" Ranma answered.

"You then covered the ten miles between the village and the battlefield, destroyed almost a half of the monsters in the field, killed the chimera and pushed the forces coming through the tear back almost to the point where you could have walked through and to top it all off after that exhausting battle you go over to the wounded and start saving lifes like its going out of style with magic that apparently is on par with master level healing and more versatile to boot."

There was a pause "You killed around one thousand monsters, the boss of the wave and saved over sixty critically wounded soldiers, drank thirty two mana potions which by the way should have killed you and to top it all off you are standing in front of me this morning looking only tired. What the hell kind of level are you?"

Ranma glanced at the stat screen "32" she said

"The Chimera was level 25, the sub commanders those big ghouls you killed were level twenty and the rank and file monsters were anywhere between 10 and 15 even given that you were twice as strong as the average monsters there is no way you should have torn through them like that."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I wish to understand your power"

"Why?"

"So I can build my men around it, so I know how to command my troops when you arrive because apparently you are worth over a thousand soldiers and thirty healers by yourself."

Ranma pursed her lips "When you put it like that it sounds a lot more impressive than it really is, for instance it only took me one strike to kill an average monster and my defense meant anything short of the sub commanders could not touch me. In my world I learned how to strike several hundred times per second, by doing that you lose some of your strength for speed. Did you notice that I never used that ability against the sub commanders in girl from it would not have done much. My mobility enabled me to be in the thick of fighting and stay there thus I did not have to worry about friend and foe every movement, every shadow was an enemy so I did not have to watch was I was doing. That thing with the chimera surprised me as much as anyone else but I think the other Heroes had already weakened it enough so that my attack destroyed it. Again my fighting at the gate was spent inside the horde and not near allies so I could go all out and no bother where by attacks were going."

She paused for a moment "The healing was as impressive as it sounds I'm not gonna lie and that mana potion thing I can't explain that."

A wave of weakness washed over her and she fell forward Cyril's hand shot out and kept her from hitting the desk but she knocked over a seaming mug of tea. "So there are some side effects" The Captain noted, Ranma missed that staring at the liquid on the ground.

"Does tea in this world melt the dirt?" She asked.

"What?"

The Captain looked at what she was seeing and his eyes darkened at the sight of the liquid eating a hole about six inches into the earth, the weakness passed and Ranma straightened. "Guess not"

The dark look passed and suddenly the man looked tired, if Ranma was guessing right he was the better side of forty. "Fifth one this month" Cyril sighed.

"Assassination?"

*sigh* "I have no idea, though that was the first subtle attempt at it, the last one was a rockslide."

"What the hell is going on I thought the wave could end the world."

"I know" the captain said with just as much exasperation as ranma felt "Then end of the world is upon us and people still spend time effort and money maneuvering for power." The man looked at the steaming hole in the ground "Thank you for saving my life even if it was only by accident, I should not be bothering you in internal troubles." The tired look disappeared as the man centered himself "I will have to be more careful" he shook his head like a dog shaking off water. "What I called you here for was to offer you my heartfelt thanks, you saved the lives of my men and for that I am in your debt."

Ranma met him eye to eye "I am a martial artist, I protect, you owe me nothing."

A small grin touched the man's face "Now that is what the heroes of legend would say"

"However Me and my companion would like to borrow or buy horses apparently we are being summoned to the castle"

"I see, as it so happens I am being called to the same, it would be my honor if you would ride with us."

Ranma nodded "Sounds good one condition though"

"Yes?"

"I need a cup of boiling water"

Several minutes later the now male Ranma and Raphtalia walked to the mounts with the slightly surprised Captain Cyril knowing someone could swap genders and seeing it were two different things. Thankfully the whispers of Minerva among the troops had quieted down most probably did not know of the Shield Hero's curse.

"So what kind of horses do you have" Ranma asked

"We have something better than horses" the Captain answered in his normal tone. They rounded a corner and came face to face with what he was going to be riding. It was something akin to to an ostrich a bird like creature with wings and three pronged taloned feet it was covered feathers which bunched around the neck area where it met the body. There were several different colored ones each ridden by more of those immaculately dressed guards. Only two were open a yellow one and a brown one. "These are philo rial and they put horses to shame"

The brown one made a pleased squawk and nearly knocked the captain over in its excitement at seeing him. Cyril just scratched its head and with a smooth action mounted a saddle attached to it. She will carry you and your companion" he said pointed.

Raphtalia paled slightly as Ranma copied the way the Captain had mounted his and offered her his hand. She took it and he lifted her up placing her in front of him "Hup hup" the Captain called and as one the philo rial moved off at a good clip. Raphtalia tensed up and her face turned paler, it only took a moment of study to figure out what was wrong. "Motion sickness" Ranma said out loud.

He placed one hand on her abdomen and the other over her heart and began to channel his ki, he pretended not to notice the moan that escaped her as he did this. Her parlor returned to normal and they stayed like that for the next two hours. The philo rial's did not seem to tire in the slightest even though they did not slow. It was not long before the castle and the town below it came into sight.

The air was festive almost and people milled about the streets, stores and restaurants with a positive air. All moved out of the way for Captain Cyril he looked both intimidating and important in his legion esk armor. The portcullis was open as they rode into the courtyard and dismounted servants came and began to care for the philo rial's. Ranma and Raphtalia both followed Cyril as he seemed to know where he was going. The sun had set in the sky by this point when they entered the banquet room. With all the flashy nobility and fans of the three heroes milling about their entrance made no stir.

Raphtalia's eyes shone as she looked upon the feast "Such a feast" she whispered.

Ranma's own stomach made a growling sound at the sight as well, even if his body could take the Ki overusage his body demanded compensation for it. That compensation was demanded in the form of food "Thank you for getting me here" he told the Captain.

"Thank you for saving my men hero of the shield"

"I'm starving right now so me and Raphtalia are going to take full advantage of the feast."

"I have no doubt you are starving, the healers by themselves eat enough for a hundred men after their battle healing and you did more than any, agian you have my thanks"

Captain Cyril thumped his fist to his heart almost in the same way military men saluted in Ranma's world. He then turned and marched forward people moving out of his way within even noticing they did so.

Ranma and Raphtalia grabbed plates and piled on the food, rather than going to a table they just stood there and ate. Meat's vegetables, fruits, nuts, desserts Ranma ate them all at some point people around him began to just stare in fascination. Even Raphtalia who ate a great deal found herself for once outpaced by her master.

This had never happened before, Ranma had never been in this kind of state of hunger, at one point he almost ate a candle stick without noticing. Raphtalia pulled it out of his hand just in time, he finally noticed the silence that had slowly filled the room as he put the last drumstick in his mouth.

He looked back down the feast table that had been full when he started, now not even scraps remained. That was when Motoyasu appeared from the crowd having exited on of the side doors, "Ranma!" he howled out.

"Hmm?" was his answer he got as Ranma had a full mouth right now.

A glove flew through the air and bounced off the shield hero's forehead "Duel with me!' the man snarled.

Ranma continued chewing "Hmm?" he said a little louder.

"I know it all! Raptalia-chan was only tagging around with you because she is your slave?"

*Blink*Blink*Swallow* Ranma pulled the half eaten drumstick out of his mouth "Pardon?"

"I did some digging that girl was seen in the ownership of a slave master"

Ranma nodded "Ya she escaped I helped her."

"Sure that would be what you say" Motoyasu answered in disgust. "Have you no pride, no heart?"

This guy was really good at not listening "She is not a slave" Ranma said slowly as if to a intellectually challenged person.

"Then prove it"

"...how?"

"Give her permission to leave you and see if she stays"

Ranma turned to Raphtalia "You do know you're free to leave if you wish?"

"Not a chance in this world or the next" she answered calmly "I am not Ranma's slave he saved me from such a fate."

"Then why have people heard you call him master" asked the spear hero.

"Because he is my teacher, he's teaching me how to write, how to fight, and how to become strong."

Motoyasu's eyes turned grave and sad "I understand miss, you do not wish for the pain the slave seal will give you, you need not say more."

"Slave seal?" Ranma asked confused.

Raphtalia flinched slightly "When slaves are bought from a slave master they are marked normally over the heart." Her hand lowered covering the area between her legs "Sometimes other places, it cause pain when the master wishes it and prevents the slave from acting against their master in any way."

Rage rose in a sudden burning heat but Ranma beat it down Raphtalia's body language was clear it had been down to her more than once. "Are you marked?" he asked ignoring the indigent spear hero.

"No, the seal is expensive and when a slave is sold the price of destroying to previous seal is deducted from the overall value of the slave. So the slave trader's and slave masters who buy and sell don't seal their don't plan on keeping them long enough for them to be of use."

"I see"

"Do not ignore me" the spear hero snarled "Your acting is worthy of an award but I know your true character and I will free this fair maiden from you evil clutches."

Ranma frowned as a huge sense of deja vu "I will free Akane and the pigtailed girl from you sorceress powers Saotome" man he had almost forget how annoying Kuno was.

"Look" he said calmly "She is not a slave, she wants to be here and no I do not use her for personal amusement. Hell for that matter if I wanted a women that badly I am for the only person alive who could use myself."

That shut up the spear hero real good as his mouth moved but no words came out against that fact, "You, you" he floundered.

"I have heard Motoyasu's story" a voice said.

"Oh come on!" Ranma yelled as the King made his way into view, the people parting to make way for the man.

"I have heard that one of the heroes was using slaves, if you refuse Motoyasu's proposal than I shall order it, a duel there shall be."

Ranma just stared at the man "This is meaningless I am" Raphtalia was saying, she was interrupted by a Knight moving behind her. She sensed it at the last second and ducked avoiding a gag that the man had been trying to place over her mouth. Two quick steps put her back to back with Ranma, his hand stopped her from drawing forth the black katana. This was no place for that, Ranma analyzed the situation calmly "Hey Cyril" he called out noticing the Captain standing off to the side looking at the king with an Oh my gods is he really that stupid look.

The man sighed deeply "Yes Shield Hero"

"If I decide to fight my way out will you try to stop me?"

"Even though I know the outcome of that yes I am honor bound to try"

The martial artist nodded turning to Raphtalia "Ok so my prefered course of action is to accept this stupid duel, kick his ass and end this whole thing right now. However its your life we are talking about so I'll leave the choice up to you. Do you want me to duel or fight my way out of this place, I can do either one but I like Cyril."

"Your arrogance knows no ends Shield" the king snarled "These knights are my best lv 70's with all of them here you would have no chance."

"Shut up the adults are talking" Ranma told him easily.

"Ranma you should duel I have every belief that you will win."

"Ok then, thank you Raphtalia after this you get anything you want my treat."

As soon as those words left his mount he felt as If he had said something dangerous, the light that entered his apprentice's eyes told him that she already had something in mind.

"Ok" he said turning back to the fuming spear and king "Lets get this over with"

* * *

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* * *

It should not have surprised him that everything got set up so fast, on the kings command

the servants had quickly and efficiently turned the Royal Gardens into a dueling space. Mein had made her appearance as the Spear Hero waited on the other side. She stood beside her "hero" and looked positively pleased after all he was the shield hero how could he possibly beat the spear hero.

It seemed they had all forgotten the incident at the Dragon Hourglass that or the more likely case they had convinced themselves that he had gotten off a surprise attack. Well far be it from him to begrudge the illusions of fools and schemers. But he at least had to try "You do remember what happened last time I attacked you right?" he said in a bored voice.

The shield hero absently rubbed his chest, you caught me by surprise nothing more I am at least ten levels higher than I was at that time."

So that was where his confidence came from in this world levels were everything, unfortunately for him Ranma did not follow those same rules. Or perhaps better to say he had a huge starting advantage that he was in no way inclined to lose, all hail martial arts.

"Now then" the king said " Let us commence the duel between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero! The victor and the vanquished shall only be determined either before the finishing blow is directly dealt or when one of them accepts their defeat!"

There was a round of laughter among the nobles, they all knew that a shield was for defence. They were well aware of how one sided this was going to be and they loved it. Ranma grinned to himself this was going to be a lot more fun that it should be.

"This time you have no surprises Shield, we all know about your one attack skill. Do not think that just because you last hit the boss it means anything at all."

Ranma ignored him poping his arms and shoulders he glanced at Mein who was giving him a haughty expression of arrogance and assurance. Rolling his eyes he flicked his eyes back to a much more pretty sight, Raphtalia was standing calmly to the side watching him intently. Several knights had tried to gag her before the match but Ranma once glare from Ranma had served to remind them of what happened last time the hero of the shield had struck a guard. Repairing platemail was expensive and not cost efficient so they left her be.

She smiled as he looked on her and he felt as if he needed no more encouragement, "Begin" the king shouted.

Motoyasu charged almost before the word even finished thrusting his spear "Chaos thrust" he shouted power humming along the length of the spear. The thrust manipulated sevenfold as phantom spears lashed out in unison each striking a different place. It was a good skill especially against against unprepared opponents. However the attacks shared one thing in common range. A complete idiot with a slight amount of training would be able to see that attack that was coming. And if one was not only decently smart but well trained they could guess the range of the spear itself.

At the right moment Ranma jumped back just far enough that the first thrust missed and thus the six other stirks fell short too. The spear hero hissed in frustration as he took another step and thrust the spear again. Stepping forward and to the diagonal he avoided the second attack, one more step took him into range of his fist. Motoyasu fumbled for a moment as he tried to readjust, Ranma tapped him lightly on the shoulder at just the right moment. The spear hero fell to the garden floor "A spear like that is a mid range weapon you should be prepared for someone doing what I just did, its basic tactics for fighting a spear." He gave that statement like a lecturer to a particularly dim witted student.

"Are….are you mocking me?"

"Nope just telling you some basic flaws I see."

The man took in an angry breath and got back to his feet, Ranma saw the motions of his shoulders and core as even thought the man pretended to be waiting he prepared a thrust. With the same move as last time Ranma stepped into the effective range of the spear. Motoyasu smiled and the weapon shrank to a spear only four feet long, with two swaying steps Ranma moved out of range. "Much better" he told the spear hero.

That earned him a glare and another attack as the spear returned to its previous form, Ranma dodged each blow with contemptuous ease making a point of not using his shield at all. "Your form is better than I thought it would be, but" Ranma caught the haft of the spear holding it so it could not be moved. "You telegraph all your attacks I know children you read your movements." Granted those children were from the Amazon Village but the point still stood. The spear morphed out of his hand and suddenly the spear hero was holding a halberg. It was essentially a spear with an axe head on the side.

"Shut up" Motoyasu snarled as he jumped into the air brandishing the weapon like a over sized axe "Guillotine Drop".

Ranma took exactly one step to the left.

The force of the blow cracked the ground and perhaps if Ranma had been unprepared it might have knocked him down. But as it was 'Telegraph" Ranma told him "That was even easier that to avoid than the thrusts.

Before the hero could lift his weapon Ranma put on foot on it and pushed down, once again the spear hero had to morph his weapon to get it back. Around them the laughter had stopped, no one quite understood what was going on right now. What should have been a one sided beatdown was looking like a match between an adult and a toddler.

"Damn you Villain" the man snarled realizing it as well "You think that this is all I have?"

"I should hope not" Ranma told him easily.

"Grrr"

"Calm down Spear hero, getting angry accomplishes nothing in fact it makes my life easier. Your attacks are faster when you are angry but."

"Turbulent thrust" the hero howled.

Ranma again took a step and avoided the blow "You are way to easy to read, its almost pitiful."

The man's entire body trembled in wrath "Is that how you played your games back in your world? You found something hard so you raged at it until it went away?"

Motoyasu froze blinking as Ranma waited as calm made its way back to the spear hero. "Anger has its place in a fight, every emotion does but you must be wary, you must train yourself so that even in your anger the power you possess does not lose it purpose."

For the first time confusion won its way to the spear hero's face, he did not ask the question but it was obvious "Why are you helping me?"

Ranma did not want to or feel like answering that question so he did not rather he waited until the spear hero got over that and readied himself for the fight. "I do not know what you hoped to accomplish fiend but you will regret calming me"

*Sigh* at least half of what he had tried to accomplish had worked. The spear hero moved his eyes bright and clearly thinking, his hands wavered slightly and for the first time his thrust met the shield of the Ranma "A faint excellent" he told him "Much much better, however" Ranma ducked a thrust swiped the hero's legs out from under him and moved back "You have a lot to learn, but at least now you know."

In the stands Captain Cyril watched the proceedings from the look they shared for a moment that man understood what he was going and why. The Captain gave him the slightest nod of thanks at his actions, then flicked up warningly to the stands were the king was sitting. Since he was looking he was able to feel the magic that was gathering around the kings daughter. Invisible wind swirled around her body as she watched the match with intense angry eyes.

He almost laughed out loud "It seemed she was planning to make sure her hero won no matter what she had to do. Motoyasu attacked again and Ranma avoided most of the blows while deflected two with the stone hide shield. They were standing over the area of the dueling ground where Motoyasu had shattered the ground. Ever so slightly Ranma stomped on one of the rounded chips of stone sending it flying into the air at eye level. He then gave his most telegraphed punch in the world that Motoyasu avoided hitting the chipped stone head on.

He was not even looking in her direction but the chip of stone shot through the air and smacked the inner part of Mein's wrist. She let out a sudden cry of pain and the magic vanished the controlling will behind it lost concentration.

Motoyasu did not see was Ranma had done but he did see that for a moment his enemy was distracted, the spear changed again it was as long as the original spear but the metal head was yellow and jagged, engravings of runes that flashed with stormy light were engraved on the shaft and glowed with subtle power.

The spear hero moved in a fast rush not holding back anything as Ranma's eyes returned to combat "Thunder's Wrath" Motoyasu howled to the air. Blue electricity exploded from the runes dancing along the length. The metal head of the spear turned white as energy filled it, the spear hero thrust and there was a roar of thunder to accompany the attack.

Ranma simply held up his hand palm facing the blow.

The spear stuck, stuck the exposed hand of Ranma Saotome head on a shock wave of force blasted outward. Painful electricity danced along the shield hero's arm, there was a blinding flash of light that took all sight away. When it faded the spear hero could be seen starring in numb astonishment. A spear thrust that would have punched a hole in stone had penetrated only a quarter inch if that into the martial artist.

With no particular effort the martial artist shoved back sended the stunned hero sprawling, angry blotches where the electricity had burned flesh covered the Ranma's arm and a constant stream of blood trickled out from his palm.

He held up his arm and let out a breath, the power of his ki engulfed it, his mana bar lowered but as it did so skin was born anew and the hole in his hand closed. Motoyasu seemed to have nothing to say, just sitting there staring. "You have shown me your best" Ranma said "Now its my turn."

The spear hero scrambled to his feet as the stone hide shield morphed into the Crystal Shield, he thrust it into the hear shouting "Crystal Encase" Green crystal shattered the earth below Motoyasu's feet. The man yelped as it grew and covered his body over the course of several seconds, he twisted and struggled but the last skill had taken a lot out of him.

Ranma held up his hand "Shield Prison" Four large metal shields materialized around the encased spear hero along with a fifth that covered the top. Chains materialized between the shields interlocking them, words came to Ranma's mind as he prepared the combo ability "Let the embrace of earth be your prison, let the bite of metal be your torment till the end of days, by earth and sacred steel be bound in the might of Gaea"

There was a flash of light that shrouded the shield prison and when it cleared the spear hero could be seen his entire body save his head frozen in metal that had taken the shape of the crystals.

Ranma looked around him calmly "I believe that is game set and match"

The spear hero's face set itself as he tried and tried to move, but it was pointless Ranma had trapped him completely and as it was now he could kill him at his leisure if he so chose. "Well King what say you?"

"What dark forces have you been dealing with shield to gain that power!" The king howled compelay enraged.

*sigh* "There is no reasoning with you is there?

Captain Cyril stood up "My king you shame your office and you shame the queen with your actions do as is required by law."

"You overstep yourself Cyril" The king said in a low dangerous voice.

The man had far too much steel in his spine to even be so much as fazed by such a glare "Do as is required by law or so help me I will do it for you"

That threat seemed like a slap in the face to the king and his face went livid "Arrest him" he snarled.

The knights did not move "Your majesty, we do not have the right" One of the commanders said "He is the Captain of the Queens First only she has the right to arrest him."

Tension skyrocketed as Cyril's guards who had been politely keeping their distance made their distinct presence known as they surrounded their Captain ready to defend him. The king opened his mouth to say something but a smooth voice interrupted him "Enough king"

Ren Amagi hero of the sword approached the king in his black armor beside him was Itsuki hero of the bow in armor of green. "We watched the fight, the winner is clear."

The king closed his mouth, apparently the heroes coming down on Ranma's side meant more than the Captain of the counties frontline defenders. "The winner" he hissed as if being whipped "Is the Shield" he did not bother to add hero to that.

With the crisis averted Ranma walked back to Raphtalia as he did so he snapped his fingers loudly and the crystal prison around the spear hero melted sinking back into the earth leaving no trace.

He took Raphtalia's hand and they said nothing as they walked away nothing really needed to be said the hero of the shield had won and that was that. Raphtalia did not ask for anything though what he had said before the match about her asking for whatever she wanted was clearly on her mind. Well no sense in worrying about it now, beside them Cyril appeared from whatever out of the way passage he had taken.

"My apologies shield hero" he said as he fell into pace with them.

Ranma shrugged "You were doing your duty, nothing to be ashamed of."

The man shook his head "No I would never apologise for that, it is for our kings actions towards you"

"It does not matter, he convinced himself that I raped his daughter and with her holding story it kind of makes sense."

Cyril hesitated "Loyalty or truth" he muttered " Shield hero, hypothetically what would you do I you knew a piece of information that say someone like you had every right to know but did not. However If you knew there is a good chance there would be negative consequences for my country if you did. Would you tell me?"

Ranma pursed his lips "are you sacrificing children to a dark god?"

"No"

"Committing Genocide?"

"No"

"Are you doing anything reprehensible?"

"The king is but no I am not."

There met eyes "You are loyal to this country, you have an oath to it. Even though I am really curious about what you are talking about I respect that fact that people follow their oaths and promises. What does your oath say?"

"That I should let the queen decide if you should know"

Ranma gently punched the metal pauldron on the man's shoulder "There you have it"

Cyril started laughing then, it was a deep sound one not used to be uttered but it sounded true and full. "I have never met anyone like you Ranma Saotome"

"I am who I am nothing more nothing less"

"I see" Cyril handed him a bag "This contains four hundred and fifty gold coins, the king tomorrow is going to hand out rewards and all he plans on giving you is living expenses."

Between that and what he had gained from the Diamond Dog fight he was decently wealthy now "Thank you Cyril"

"It is the least I can do Hero of the shield"

They reached the portcullis and the Captain stopped seeing them off as they headed into town "I will see you again at the next wave" Ranma called.

"One would hope given that we do not know where they will appear"

Ranma paused thinking "Can't I just meet with you before it and bring you with me, I mean Raphtalia came with me when I was teleported."

Cyril frowned "A three hundred man party...you do know that will severely decrease the experience gain you will get."

Ranma shrugged "During a wave its far more important to protect others than gain power."

Cyril smiled and pulled out a stone "When you are ready put some blood on this and you will be where you need to be." The stone was black and had a sigil carved into its center"

"I will see you then" Ranma told him.

"Thank you for helping us" Raphtalia said.

"As before you are most welcome, I pray your journey will bring you strength" The Captain's eyes sparkled "Minerva"

Ranma did not hear that last part as he had been moving away from the man, he glanced at all the money he had acquired in this past week. Well that only meant one thing in this world, time for better equipment.

* * *

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There first stop was Oyaji's weapons shop, the old man was sweeping the floor when they walked in "Hello you two" he greeted them "Good to have you back."

He and Ranma traded grips "We are outfitting her" Ranma said pointing at Raphtalia "Since I now have money I want the best you got."

"Um master"

"Ranma" he corrected her.

"Ranma you don't need to"

He waved a hand "Your weapon is fine but lets get you some great armor"

Oyaji glanced at the Katana belted to Raphtalia's side "I see you put it to good use"

Raphtalia smiled at him "I could not ask for anything better Oyaji-san"

"Please call me Oyaji, the san makes me feel old."

"Of course" she said.

He went over to the counter and pulled out several stripes with numbers on them "How much are you willing to spend?"

"What is the best armor you think you can make for her?"

He began his measurements "What level is she?"

"30"

"Hm...it would cost about a thousand silver pieces, from her looks I would say medium armor would be the best and I could retrofit some Drakesteel armor into a Darksteel vest."

Ranma nodded "How long will it take?"

"Three days, I allready have the Drakesteel changing it is the hard part."

"Got ya" Ranma said as he put fifteen gold coins on the table.

"Thats too much" Oyaji said instantly.

"Consider this a debt payed for your kindness when no one else was." Ranma grinned "Besides its not like you can make me take it back."

The old man laughed at that "I did not get to be where I am today by turning away money." He finished up the measurements. "What do you two plan on doing?"

"Gona grab a few more magic tomes, and train up Raphtalia until the armor is done"

"Dabbling in magic are we? Nice."

"About time I happened to magic instead of magic happening to me." Ranma said agreeing.

The shopkeeper frowned at that confused but did not push "See you in three days" Ranma told that him as he and Raphtalia left that weapon's shop. Before heading to the magic store Ranma made a detour to the Dragon Hourglass to check on on the time until the next wave. The time said 40:14:10:09 which would give them plenty of time to prepare.

"I thought you would be here" a voice said as Ranma turned away Ren Amaki hero of the sword was leaning against the wall of the sanctum.

"Ren" Ranma said amiably.

The dark haired boy nodded "You were amazing fighting the wave you know, I've never seen a shield do so much damage."

"Well I had several advantages you three did not."

Ren hesitated "Do you mind if I ask how and what?"

"As best as I can figure in my world things are no where near as advanced as your worlds. From what you three spoke about you had games that did something with your mind to make you think you were in it, correct?"

Ren nodded "It was called nerv gear in my world"

"Ok, well in my world while we did not have video games like that we did have something this" Ranma held up a hand and a glowing ball of ki appeared. "I was able to do things like this long before I came here, in my world martial arts can make you superhuman and it is all based on using your body's life force, your ki to do so."

Ren looked thoughtful "Had you said anything like that at first I would not have believed you." he shook his head "But seeing you jump huge distances, watching you one shot the boss monster."

"To be fair you guys weakened it considerably"

"And then watching you tear through everything else like paper, you have to be around the same level as us but your power easily dwarfs ours."

"What did you come here for Ren?"

"I wanted to ask if you knew a way to get as strong as you?"

Ranma pursed his lips "One my skill screen there is a martial arts skill, do you have one like that."

Ren's eyes flicked up "No I don't see it but I believe you when you say...oh there it is. Through thats funny it just appeared."

"According to the skill I am a grand master of martial arts and I get a ridiculous amount of stat ups, growth boosts, and bonuses from it. I also have a few more things that give me similar boosts but they dangerous and are beyond reach."

Ren nodded at that "Strange that this skill was not there before you mentioned it"

"I would offer to teach you but with the legendary weapons I don't think that is an option."

"Probably not" Ren sighed

"Perhaps there are teachers out there if you looked for them"

The boy looked towards the east "There was a man who offered to show me some of the way of the blade but I was too busy."

"That might be a good place to start"

Ren nodded "Indeed," there was a few moments of silence before he said "Since it seems not everything is on the status window do you know what weapon proficiency is?"

Ranma shook his head "No"

"I see, if you use the same weapon for a long amount of time, it will get stronger. And when a weapon becomes obsolete, you can convert that proficiency into energy and transfer it. Storing energy unleashes extreme powers. This is most important."

"Ok how do I check that?"

"Open your inventory and check the weapons you have been using the status should be there telling you how much energy has been charged."

Ranma opened the stone hide shield, and at first there was nothing but after squinting at it for a moment there was a sound like a bell and the bar Ren had been talking about fell into place.

Stone Hide Shield

True Power unsealed: Damage Reduction /1, Equipment Bonus: Damage Reduction /2 Defense Bonus 10, Bonus Skill: Hide of the Ancestors (Once a day skill that grants a plus /10 Damage reduction to the user"

Proficiency 100

Had Not the damage reduction been only 2 and the defence 7 before?

"Ok I see it so what do I do?"

"Convert it"

Ranma touched the proficiency tab the number disappeared replaced by a message "Acquired 2000 skill energy"

"Alright I got the energy now what?"

"Touch the shield you want to enhance but you may need to take the proficiency points from other weapons to do so" Ranma ended up taking the skill power from nearly every one of his lower shields he did not use any more. With that done he reset the skill proficiency,

Stone Hide Shield

Improvement DR/5

Unsealed Ability improvement DR/5

Hide of the Ancestors(DR/15)

"Wow" Ranma said

"It does give nice bonuses" Ren said by way of agreement.

"Ranma" Raphtalia said "I have the skill proficiency too but only with the katana"

Ren blinked "You have a katana? Where the hell did you find one of those?"

"I knew a guy" Ranma said in a noncommittal way.

The boy laughed "You will tell others the secrets of your power but not where you find things?"

"Not if it will get the one who sold this to me in trouble."

"Why?"

"Apparently its illegal to so much as take one of these weapons out of its country of origin much less sell it."

"Apparently I need ten thousand skill points to reset it, right now I only have two thousand." Raphtalia said as her eyes flicked between Ranma and her stat screen.

"That is a lot of points" Ren said frowning "Nothing I have yet requires that much."

Ranma shrugged "The damn thing talks so I'm not surprised"

"...It talks?"

"Yep, and that's not the strangest thing that has ever happened to me"

"The girl thing?"

"Ya the girl thing trumps all that."

All three of them made their way out of the dragon hourglass sanctum "Do you mind if I ask one more question?"

"Only If you don't mind walking, I have to get to the magic shop."

Ren fell into place beside the two of them "Your battle with Motoyasu you were teaching him weren't you?"

"So?"

"He was trying to harm you, to humiliate you why would you take the time and risk to help him?"

"In the first place I could have beat him blindfolded with my arms and legs chained together. It was no risk on my part as my little stunt with his thunder lance proved. But the reason is simple, that wave we fought, I would not have been anywhere near as effective as I was without the help that everyone brought. The soldiers that kept the main body near the gate, you three that held up the boss so he could not wreak havoc. I was able to save a village, help kill the boss, fight in the main battle and doctor the injured only because of everyone else there. You, Motoyasu and Itsuki by virtue of the weapons you hold each of you has an incredible amount of potential." Ranma grinned a bit "I want to see what you will become, and perhaps have a few good fights with you when you get there."

Ren was quiet for the rest of the walk until they reached the magic shop "You are a strange person Ranma, but I think, I think," he shrugged "Well it does not matter but it is good to have you on our side."

"I could say the same for you hero of the sword, you died to protect someone else in my mind there are few better ways the go than that."

Ren's eyes went distant "You really think so?"

"What was that quote from that old book?... oh yes greater love hath no man than one who would give his life for his friend."

Ren's mouth twitched "I heard that somewhere too, never thought about it too much though."

They traded grips "Fight well hero of the sword" Ranma said

"Fight well hero of the shield" Ren parroted.

He walked off into the town having apparently having his own errand to run, Ranma entered the magic shop with Raphtalia already knowing what he wanted. He grabbed up the intermediate level magic books for fire, lighting and wind. It had only taken him one night to get the wind magic to work and he was almost done with fire. Thunder was still untouched but it was next on his list.

The old lady looked from him to Raphtalia confused, "Where is the young lady who was with you child?"

Raphtalia's mouth twitched once "She's nearby"

"Ah doing something else right now?"

"In a manner of speaking mam"

The woman's eyes turned back to Ranma then to his shield, they flicked over him noting the lack of weaponry. "Are you the hero of the shield son?"

He nodded, the shopkeeper took in a shaky breath placed a soft hand on his shoulder "You saved my grandson, he lives with his family at Ryute, thank you."

Warmth spread through his core at that, to hear he had made a difference was the best reward he could ask for. He tried paying for the books but the lady would only take half of what they were worth, said that it was the least she could do.

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So richer by three magic books and an armor on the way for his companion they made their camp in the planes outside of town. After everything had been set up Raphtalia went to work on her letters and Ranma to his magic…*Splash*...her magic. Despite really not wanting to she made herself pick of the book of flames, beside their camp was comfortably large stream and Raphtalia had more of that medicine on hand so she had no excuse not to try and finish it.

It was annoying though, wind had come so easily not one of her spells had felt overcharged like they had with fire. With tome in hand she got a safe distance away not wanted to accidentally incinerate anything.

She had finished reading the tome before the wave had started so she was ready to try the last spell "Flame Stream" With a breath she focused gathering mana from within herself "I am the hero of the shield who commands the origin of power, I have read and deciphered the law of nature. Become dust at the merciless heat of flame" ""Etain ・Flame Stream"

What was supposed to come out was a jet of flame that remained for a short time, kind of like a weakened flamethrower. What happened was white hot flash of flame that's backlash sent Ranma back clean through a tree and crashing into the next one.

She just stayed there breath knocked out of her lungs "Ow" Ranma whispered. Ki flickered out mending flesh and bone making pain flare up then vanish. Ok so something was really wrong with her fire magic, she was damn sure that flame jet was not meant to be a passable substitute for a jet engine.

"Calm mind, clear heart" she muttered "Something it wrong, how do I find out?"

It came to her after a little bit an Idea that might work, standing back up she began to chant the spell again, but this time gathering less than a tenth of the mana required to power the spell. Ranma did not focus on the results rather closing her eyes she turned her senses to the pathways of ki and mana that shared the same space coursing through her body.

And there it was, the mana took a path that did not follow the path it should have, the magic that was going to create fire took a detour one that led right to where the sacred fire of Saffran the Phoenix god had permanently scarred him. The mana passed through that area of her body, why had she not noticed it before. Ki flowed in veins that closely followed the blood of ones body but somehow it now avoided the area under her scars. It did nothing to damage the way her ki worked otherwise Ranma would have noticed it before.

The spell flared and died without sending her flying but now at least she had a better Idea what was happening. The mana she was using to create fire was being amplified by something within the scar. Trouble was she had no idea what it was, her ki was avoiding that area she could feel nothing of what was happening once her mana was amplified.

But the good part was now Ranma knew how she was going to learn fire from now on, popping her shoulders time to get this party started.

The flames Ranma through around scared earth, toppled trees and generally sent everything within a mile running for their life. Her hand were red and her back still hurt from the blast through a tree but she was not covered in burns so that was a plus. Even though she did not understand it she for now would have to simply treat fire spells as really inexpensive mana cost spells. She did not want to know what trying to overcharge them would do. At least not until she managed to finagle some fire resistance if there was such a thing.

Her new shirt was agian for the most part ripped to shreds but she had bought eight of them for situations like this. Popping her neck she was about to walk back to camp when she saw something strange. Within the area of destructions she had caused as a puddle of blue slime and it was making noises. *Bloop*Bloop* and somehow the noises sounded pitiful and scared. Frowning she walked over to it and crouched taking a closer look at it *Bloop* it made that noise again.

Slime, that was what the shield said it was a low level monster that required hydration to survive. They could digest almost anything but as a general rule they did not attack unless threatened. *Bloop* it said again.

Given how much heat she had been throwing around it made sense that this thing was dehydrated, it made a sad scared noise and again and Ranma sighed. Taking out one of the flasks of water she poured it onto the poor creature.

The effect was amazing. the water vanished into the slime and the puddle began to pull itself together. The ooze congealed into a round ball the size of Ranma's palm, it was blue with two shapes of a slightly darker blue that looked like eyes. On top was an small antenna like thing that was a shade of turquoise with a bulb of yellow at the top. *Boolp*Bloop* was the sound it made in between bounces as it hopped up and down.

"Um you're welcome I guess" she told the creature.

*Bloop*

Nodding she turned away and began to walk. *Bloop* Bloop* her head turned as the slime bounced after her. It stopped when she did. Watching it she took one step further*Bloop* it followed her again.

For some reason Ranma felt as if she was watching a puppy that having just been feed will follow the person that fed it in hopes of more. She spend two minutes staring at the slime which besides the occasional *bloop* watched her back.

"Ya know" Ranma said out loud "I always did want a puppy but pop would not allow it."

She knelt down and held out her hand, *Bloop* it said as it bounced happily into her hand. Holding a slime as like holding a water balloon only more viscous and pulsing with life.

A message appeared "A Slime had joined your party."

"...ok then...that happened." Ranma murmured.

Gently she placed it on her shoulder, the body of the slime took on an adhesive like state and it stuck itself to her shirt. The walk back to camp was interesting as the slime nuzzled against the side of her neck.

Raphtalia was kneeling over something her face a mix of excitement and worry "Master" she said as Ranma approved "Look"

Cracks had appeared all over the egg as the baby monster inside got ready to meet the world, Raphtalia turned and blinked "Master is that a slime on your shoulder?"

Ranma nodded "Apparently its part of your party now"

"...ok then" Raphtalia said a strange expression on her face.

The egg shell trembled rocking side to side, in one tremendous effort shell shattered apart. Fluffy pink feathery wings flexed and stretched, wide black eyes and a small yellow beak. A single piece of its egg shell still lay atop its head. In perfect essence it was a very large fluffy extremely cute chick.

The first thing the chick's eyes saw was Ranma and it let out a *Pii* of delight as it bounded off the incubator little wings flapping hard as it landed on Ranma's head. *Pii*Pii* it squawked. *Bloop*Bloop* the slime on her shoulders answered.

*Pii?* the bird turned to the slime on her shoulder.

*Bloop*

*Pii?*

*Bloop*

Ranma looked at the shield for some reason it did not tell him what the baby bird was, which made no sense whatsoever. She reached up and gently scratched the top of the birds head.

*Pii* it squawked happily.

The slime moved from Ranma shoulder to her sternum so that it could see her better *Bloop* it said.

Ranma blinked once and with a shrug used her other hand to scratch the slimes...head?...Body?...plasmoid?.. she did not know. But apparently the slime liked it so that was good, she hoped.

Raphtalia was smiling at her, the girls eyes were shining with something Ranma could not place but it made her feel light on the inside.

"Master" she said calmly "I think things are going to be very interesting for us."

Ranma did not doubt that for a second in fact that was practically the standard of his/her life now. So no she had to figure out how she was going to take care of and train two monsters, thank whatever divine force was out there that monsters bodies kept up with their levels.

Fun days were ahead for all.

Ranma glanced at the remains of the of the birds egg...why the hell not. She picked up the pieces and placed them in the shield. There was a flash of light and Ranma let out a cry as her remaining mana was ripped out of her into the shields itself.

Requirements for the Demon Trainer series unsealed.

True Power unsealed: Monster Growth Correction: Large

"...oh yes fun times indeed"


	6. Chapter 6

I know its been a while but I was on Thanksgiving break so plz forgive me.

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Ranma and his companions entered the palace again around noon, he was back in his male form and ready for whatever happened. Glancing from the bird which was on his head to the slime attached to his shoulder he looked to Raphtalia and asked "Why did you name them Suu and Firo?"

"Did you not like the names Ranma" she asked worried.

"No, no its just that," he patted the slime on his shoulder now called Suu, whilst the baby chick called Firo sat calmly on top of his head make *Pii* sounds occasionally. "Why did you give the slime and the bird feminine names?"

"Ah that" she was quiet for a moment "I don't know it just felt right"

Shaking his head he decided to ignore it and continue as if nothing happened, he had asked Raphtalia to name them and she had. "Um Ranma do...do you like monster girls?"

"_What the hell kind of question was that" _Ranma thought. "I don't judge any girl based on what they are, its what they do that counts." Perfect answer, he was getting good at hard questions.

Raphtalia frowned apparently not satisfied "Well what kind of girl do you like?"

He forced a panicked expression off his face "Um is that a trick question?"

"No its an honest one master."

"Stop calling me that" he pleaded.

"What kind of girls do you like?"

"We are about to walk into a court whose king is completely hostile to us, can this wait til camp?"

"No"

...women…

"I like girls that are strong, sure of themselves, willing to call me out on my bullshit but for the love of god don't abuse me for it. I girls that can overcome challenges, that will stand by me side." A thought struck him and he did not question it "Generally I like girls like you"

That apparently was the answer she was looking for as her face seemed to brighten and she moved swiftly to hug him for an instant and let go, and the best part about it was he really meant those words. Raphtalia was a strong beautiful amazing female, who he did not mind being around. Now the only problem was the gnawing fact that she was still ten years old. That made acknowledging the way his body reacted to her really hard to do, especially when he remembered her hands tracing every part of...

Ranma flicked himself in the head causing a surprised *Pii* from Firo, now was not the time for such thoughts. Right now they were going into a place where he needed to be ready, the doors opened and everything looked pretty much the same as the first time he had arrived here. Nobles off to either side, the king and his assistant near the throne and the three hero's already standing before it waiting.

Ranma waved to Cyril as he passed him and the Captain gave him a nod of encouragement, they both shared a small smile at what had passed between them yesterday. Raphtalia stepped off to the side as Ranma moved to his spot before the king, whispers were already going around the court about the monster baby sitting on his head and the slime on his shoulder.

Said monsters were eyeing everyone with interest though Firo seemed most interested in the brightly colored banners.

"You dare bring monsters into my court!" the king snarled.

Ranma just gave the king his best screw you smile and flipped him the bird, Ren choked back a laugh at his antics. While Motoyasu studiously avoided looking at his fellow hero and Itsuki rolled his eyes as if such things were beneath him.

"Get those things out of my sight right now"

"Then you should just close your eyes oh king" Ranma told him in a serious voice.

"Are you"

"Yes I am mocking you do you really have to ask?"

The king seemed to arrest his motion to call the guards over; even he was beginning to realize the depths of Ranma's power. Even if he thought it was from a dark source he had to at the very least understand that Ranma was not someone that could be easily struck at.

So he did his best impression of an actor and pretended that Ranma did not matter to him, he motioned to the assistant who handed Ranma a pitifully small coin pouch "For efforts in the battle against the wave… 5 silver"

People started murmured around him and perhaps it was his imagination but some of the nobility next to Cyril were giving the king disapproving glares.

The kings voice got louder as the assistant handed Motoyasu a huge back "For completing requests and in expectation for Motoyasu-dono's other great deeds, we award 4,000 coins."

Ranma felt like snickering he had gotten more than ten times that much, but all he did was keep his annoying smirk not even blinking at the how badly the king was trying to screw him over.

"Next is Ren-dono, for displaying similar bravery during the wave and completing requests, we award 3,800 coins" Ren looked down at his bag then over to Ranma. He looked like he was about to say something about what was happening but Ranma very gently shook his head. Ren caught the motion and raised an eyebrow.

"Its fine" Ranma mouthed

The sword hero nodded and did not say anything more "Itsuki-dono... Your heroism echoes throughout the country. For your great work in times of strife, we award 3,800 coins."

"Funds have been taken from shield to repair the damage done to my garden during the duel, you will need to work harder."

The king gave him a superior smirk at his words no doubt thinking how clever he was, ...and then Suu spit slime in his eyes. Ranma was treated to the sight of the king rolling around on the ground clawing at his eyes and screaming in pain.

Guards reacted on instinct several hauling the king back four trying to apprehend the culprit, Ranma saw the exact moment when their conscious mind reasserted itself and told them that it was a horrible idea to try and grab the hero of the shield. Unfortunately for them that came too late, four lv 70 guards went flying, two through stained glass windows, one was tangled up in the chandelier above and the last was twitching in an imprint on the solid stone ground.

Ranma looked up calmly into the silence "Hey Ren do levels mean more to hero's than others? I mean they were supposed to be lv 70 for crying out loud."

"I do believe that hero levels do more than normal ones but I mostly think you have a ridiculous head start in terms of power."

"I see thanks"

The king had stopped yelling as he realized that it was not acid that had been thrown in his face just slime, normal everyday slime. He scrambled to his feet face a mask of rage "Get out, Get out, Get out of my castle!" he roared like a five year old.

Ranma gave him a mocking bow "As you wish king"

Ranma

Exp 7000

Lv 36

Raphtalia

Exp 5000

Lv 32

Firo

Exp 5000

Lv 18

Suu

Exp 5000

LV 18

Damn those guards gave great experience but really the diamond dog was way tougher, perhaps monster levels meant more than human levels in some cases as well.

Ranma's head suddenly got a lot heavier, the chick on his head looked like she doubled in size *Pii* it said in excitement. On his shoulder Suu had grown as well, it had gone from palm sized to basketball sized in the course of several seconds *Bloop* it said.

Ranma did an about face and marched out of the room muttering about levels and how they made no biological sense.

Raphtalia looked something between horrified and amused, as Ranma stepped outside the the throne room he noted Cyril starting to follow them. So he waited until the man had caught up before walking. "Sorry" he said "Did not expect that."

Cyril looked like he had been about to have a heart attack "Scared me out of five years of my life. I thought i was going to have to fight you for a second, then I remembered slime's have to take some time to for their bodies to become acidic. By the way where did you get a Philo Rial chick?"

Ranma and Raphtalia traded a look "No where important" they said at the same time.

"I see"

"Thank you by the way" Ranma told him "I was not sure what she was."

"Well I can tell you from experience that they are great friends if you treat them right" he scratched the head of Firo and the chick made pleased sounds. "Granted I have never seen them grow like that over the course of several seconds but..you are a hero so really anything could happen."

Ranma held back a gulp at that thought, "What are you plans now?"

"I'm thinking of dashing to Ryute and the scene of the wave and and get some new shields, then head back here grab her armor" He pointed at Raphtalia "After that we have a monster to hunt down."

Cyril sensed the sudden shift in atmosphere as Raphtalia's face darkened "Which monster?"

"The Cerberus of the wave"

"Ah that thing" the Captain's eyes went distinct "I lost quite of few men driving that thing off"

"Do you know where it went?"

"No but one of our trackers Antillus Crassus lost a friend to it last I heard he was near Fura following a lead."

Ranma stopped and pulled out a map "Can you mark where that is?"

Cyril made a few motions with a pen and ink circling a space "You take the main road to here, and turn off here and several miles later you will find Fura."

"Thank you Cyril"

*sigh* "Before you go do you have any ideas how to get someone off a chandelier that is forty feet in the air?"

"You could get someone to jump up there, that's what I would do."

*sigh*"Never mind"

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With that they parted ways as Ranma exited the castle hopefully for the last time until the next wave and made their way to camp. After packing everything up and making sure Suu and Firo were fed. Which was fairly easy, Ranma would go out hunted and return with anything he had found this time being over one hundred balloon corpse's and Firo was devour the meat and Sue would take everything that was left, bone's skin, ect. He had tried to offer it normal meat but it seem perfectly happy with the leftovers.

That did take awhile but to his surprise both of them ate until there was only twenty left, Firo then very much like a baby simply dropped over and fell asleep. Suu did not have any physical change whatsoever from all that food and Ranma after thinking about it moved the remaining twenty balloon's over to it. The slime devoured each and every remaining one over the course of the next hour. Raphtalia was given some martial arts lessons during this time and once everything had been taken care of they left began to make their way to Ryute.

Out of mutual understanding they moved at a good but slow pace, there was no wave or major threat right now so slow walking was fine. Firo woke up around the evening hours and seemed to be extremely energetic. Since they were going at slow pace Ranma put down the baby Philo Rial and let it waddle around beside them. Suu seeing that plopped down as well and bounced along beside its fellow monster.

Ranma watched them in fascination as the slime propped the baby bird up whenever it seemed to be about to teether over. Raphtalia seemed just as intrigued by this behavior as well "What do you think" he found himself asking her.

"I have no idea, monster raising was never something that came up in my childhood"

Ranma frowned looking at the two's antics "Weird"

It was dark when they made camp and after setting it up they quickly went to sleep, Ranma himself was still recovering from the healing he had done at the wave. Even though it did not affect him much he was only around ninety percent, it would take one or two days to return to one hundred.

He woke up the next morning warmer than he should have been, he tried murmured something and got a mouth full of feathers. He instantly came awake sputtering and coughing, Firo had gone to sleep next to his chest and Suu had apparently appointed itself Ranma's pillow so she had been under his head the whole night.

Firo had grown overnight, her feathers had become whiter most of the pink fading, her tiny legs were now long enough and large enough to support her weight. In fact from Ranma's practiced eye they looked like legs designed for immensely powerful kicks. He gently touched the long legs feeling out the sinew and bone, tracing the muscles. Holy crap if her growth continued like he thought it was going to one day his kick was be weaker than hers.

*Pii* Firo said in a sleepy voice blinking awake. The bird turned its now lengthened, ostrich like neck towards him watching him with large trusting eyes.

"Good morning" he said scratching Firo's head.

*Bloop* Suu bounced beside him. "And to you to Suu" the slime bounced happily at his words. "Are you going to grow this fast too?"

*Bloop*

Raphtalia sat up after hearing the noise he was making "Morning Ranma"

She flinched slightly at seeing Firo "Wa?"

Ranma shrugged as well "Good morning to you too and no I don't understand either….unless the demon trainer shield had something to do with it. Now that I think about it that makes the most sense.

*Gu* Firo said making a new noise, a growling sound emitted from her stomach.

Right just because she was going at a fast rate did not diminish the need for food, in fact it probably just increased it. He got up "I'll go hunting be back in a half an hour"

*Bloop*Bloo* Suu said hopping up and down "Ok you can come too" he told it.

The slime jumped onto his chest flattening and spreading out until the slime wrapped around chest and back like armor. Well an armor with two eyes in the center of his chest, he checked the status window "Hey my defense and elemental resistance went up cool"

Raphtalia just stared at him "Aren't you worried Suu will digest you?"

"Nope, the power ki is awesome and besides Suu would not do that, right Suu?"

*Bloop*

"See bloop"

*Gu* Firo said stomping her foot on the ground in an almost jealous manner "What you want to come to?"

*Gu*Gu*Kewk* "Ok, I guess we are all going hunting" Raphtalia smiled and for some reason it caused one of his own to spread. Man the smile was pretty, "So off we go I guess."

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They hunted until Firo and Suu could eat no more, both monsters gained four levels and both grew again. Firo this morning had been at Ranma's chest, now it was as tall as his neck and giving more muscles and feathers by the second. Suu did not seem to change at all but Ranma noted that it form would shift violently when returning to ball form as if trying to change something. On a side note as Suu's level went up its defense and elemental resistance it gave him a boost as well when she was in her armor form.

When the baby and the slime were finished Ranma and Raphtalia shared a meal together as the two rested. At first they had been across the fire from each other but Raphtalia got a determined look on her face and had crossed over to side very, very close beside him. He found himself not minding in the slightest and what's more grateful that she was doing it. The hell was wrong with him?

After that they began to walk again and by midday they were close to Ryute Village, Firo had grown even more. The village looked like it was doing well, thanks to his efforts during the wave there was very little in the way of rebuilding to be done. The villagers were among the bodies of the destroyed monsters, harvesting valuable parts, chopping up some of the more animal like ones for meat and burning the bodies to ash when they were through.

At first they were so busy that no one bothered to give him a second glance, at least until one of the kids there said something. Eyes turned to him and after a moment of quiet hundreds of voice joined as one in a shouts of joy. The surged toward him causing Firo to jump around nervously but many just wanted handshakes or to slap his back, voices cried out there thanks and children gave him hugs.

At first he was stunned by the reaction, never in his world had he gotten such a greeting. More often than not he had been punished in some way for his actions even if they were in self defense. The general consensus of these worlds' words was "Thank you Shield Sama"

He let the sudden flood of thanks go on until Firo made an impatient snort and stomped the ground hard enough to kick up dust. The people of the village realizing that it was enough and knowing they had more work to do themselves let Ranma move on to where the monsters lie. Firo walked over to them as well and began to eat before Ranma could tell her that eating this flesh might not be a good idea.

He waited but nothing bad seemed to happen so he left her to it, he went among the monsters gathering and absorbing what he needed to while Suu bounced along behind him and Raphtalia worked on her Katana forms.

Requirements for Netherworld Locust Shield has been unsealed.

Requirements for Netherworld Bee Shield has been unsealed.

Requirements for Netherworld Corpse Eater Demon Shield has been unsealed

Requirements for Bee Needle Shield has been unsealed.

Bee Needle Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Attack +1

Netherworld Locust Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Defense +6

Netherworld Bee Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Agility +6

Netherworld Corpse Eater Demon Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Decay Prevention (S)

The hell was decay prevention? Ranma wondered at he finished gathering what he could from this area. From there they made their way to the Chimera corpse where another group of villagers were in the middle of disposing of it. They were more than happy to let him grab some stuff off it and were also grateful to Firo and Suu who started munching on the remaining meat on the boss.

Requirements for Chimera Meat Shield has been unsealed.

Requirements for Chimera Bone Shield has been unsealed.

Requirements for Chimera Leather Shield has been unsealed.

Requirements for Chimera Viper Shield has been unsealed.

Chimera Meat Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Cooking Skill+

Chimera Bone Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Darkness Resistance (M)

Chimera Leather Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: Defense +10

Chimera Viper Shield

True power sealed... Equipment bonus: [Change Shield] skill, Antidote Mixing+, Poison Resistance (M)

Special Effect: Poisonous Snake Fang (M), Hook

More shields with cooking bonus, well at least he was become quite the decent chef as of late, the last shield was interesting especially the antidote mixing part, and the poison resistance. He switched the stone hide to the Chimera Viper Shield, despite the other shield being better he wanted to see if upping his proficiency with it would unlock the True power of the shield. From what he was coming to understand the permanent bonus of true power were going to become important. Given how many monsters he could kill in a day and how fast he could do so gaining proficiency was not as time consuming as it might be especially when he used shields that were not already strengthened like the Stone Hide. It seemed if the shield was strengthened it made the proficiency growth slower.

Evening was falling by the time he was finished and Firo was the size an adult Philo Rial, he was not kidding. She had grown until she was a head and a half taller than him now with all white feathers. Its wings were fully grown though like and ostrich they would not get her off the ground. The area of her neck under her beak had a slight bushier plumage, her body was now tight with power and muscle especially around the legs and her affectionate bumps had knocked him over several times before he figured out how to brace himself for it.

So the way back moved a log faster than the way there, in fact several time Firo ran ahead of them really fast then turned around and ran back. The Philo Rial seemed to have boundless energy.

"So this is the power of a hero?" Raphtalia said out loud

"Making monsters grow since 1985." Ranma said

"What?"

"...sorry...bad joke"

*Bloop*"

"Thank you for finding it funny Suu"

"You can actually understand it can you?"

Ranma grinned "That's for me to know and you to find out."

*kewwek* Firo squawked as she bumped into the shield hero.

"Don't worry, just because you leave my sight doesn't mean I forget you"

*Gu*

"Ranma we still have a day left until the armor is finished"

He nodded "What are we going to do?"

"We are going to send an entire day devoted to martial arts" he looked over at Firo" And see about teaching her the proper way to kick, if she does not already know it by instinct."

*Bloop*

"Sorry Suu I don't know what I can teach you right now you don't have any arms and le…"

Ranma trailed off as the slime began to shake violently, there was a pulsing sound and of all things Ranma felt the creature gathering ki within itself. That was new, he had not yet seen or felt a monster that used anything other than mana.

The slime abruptly dropped into a very large pile of slime and out of it a long thick tornado like swirl of water and slime rose up. It spun until it resembled a see through oval, slowly the large egg shaped slime began to take a new shape. Mass of shifted and Ranma could only watch in abject shock. The cocoon srank inward the slime swirling and swirling and it took a moment but over a short amount of time it began to take on a humanoid shape.

It started at the extremities, fingers began to take shape, masses of slime compressing to resemble arms and legs. There were no feet just legs rising out of a puddle of slime on the ground, the head formed next a very pleasant feminine face with greenish blue eyes its yellow and green feeler still on the top of its… of her head. Other longer almost tentacle like appendages which were green color fell around her body like hair. Her chest curved out into boobs about a size larger than Ranma's girl from and the apex between her legs took on the proper shape as well. There however were no naughty bits attacked thank god, Suu's breasts looked like that of a barbie doll. The slime spun around once as if testing her new form and Ranma got an eyeful of a butt that looked normal and pleasant...for a slime anyway.

*PU?* Firo exclaimed.

"What in the name of all the gods" Raphtalia whispered

Ranma himself was speechless then to top it all off Suu said "Arms and Legs"

"you..you can talk?"

"Can talk" she repeated.

"What the hell?"

"What the hell"

"You're repeating me" Ranma muttered.

"Repeating me" she said

Ranma turned to Firo "Are you going to turn into a girl too?"

*Gu*

"I am not reassured"

Suu seemed to glide over to him, probably because where her feet should have been was a pool of slime that moved for her. "What are you" he started to ask but was interrupted as Suu's arms encircled him and pulled him into a hug. Or at least that might have been what she was attempting to do, the outer layer of her new from was not as solid as her original. Probably because she was not used to it yet, so she pulled his head right through her chest. He did not panic at this, he could hold his breath for long periods of time. He had been forced to learn how when pop made him swim from japan to china due to the old man losing their ticket buying money in a game of shells.

He could vaguely hear Raphtalia's startled yell and the sudden squawking and flapping of Firo through the sound dampening liquid but he held his cool. He could almost feel Suu panic for a moment while he waited and pull him out making noises of distress. He...she actually, Suu was a water based life form, shook her head to get the slime out of her hair. The slime girl whimpered as Ranma turned her eyes back to her. She held up a hand stalling Raphtalia as the girl was about to unleash a furious tirade.

Suu had used ki to gain this form, no other monster she had seen was capable. Suu was mimicking her words, Suu had seen her use ki so what if?.

Gently Ranma smiled at the slime girl "Watch" she said closing her eyes and focusing ki to her skin "Copy me"

Suu tilted her head and went through the motions of taking in a cleansing breath even though she did not breath like Ranma or her companions. There was a shift in the energy of the slime a build up just under the surface of the skin. Ranma placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and did not sink through. Suu squealed with delight and and repeated her attempt at a hug this time giving the martial artist a strange but pleasant marshmallow hell. All hail the art of holding ones breath.

Suu let her go gliding a step back looking down at her from and flexing her fingers as if trying to get used to the sensation.

"Master" Raphtalia said her voice dangerous.

Ranma felt her back straightened in fear "yes" she said meekly turning to the girl.

Her face was, not precisely angry no rather it was a mask of jealous envy "Um just so you know I did not teach her that."

"Suu is a her now?" Raphtalia asked.

Ranma looked behind her "She is more stacked than I am so ya."

"Is that what you like girls with big boobs?!"

"How did you get that out of this conversation?" Ranma yelled back

"You-you never let me do that."

"One you haven't tried two you are ten years" Ranma was cut off as the Raccoon girl reached around her neck and pulled her very close into her well formed chest. The hold was tight and possessive and Ranma decided the best way to defuse this situation was to say nothing. Besides this did feel rather nice, especially compared to the "you jerk hammer blow"

*Gu* a force bumped into them as Firo feeling left out made her own annoyance known. Blindly as Ranma was currently buried inside a soft dark void she reached out and managed to run her fingers through the birds feathery head.

*Bloop* Suu said as her new tentacle like appendages encircled all of them as she joined this impromptu group hug. Unfortunately the slime girl had no context of what was appropriate to grab and what was not.

"Whaaa" Raphtalia squealed as all three of them were were picked up off the ground "Suu" Ranma said calmly ignoring the feelers going across her chest and legs.

*Bloop*?

"Please put us down"

"Gut down" Suu repeated

"Yes"

The slime did so "Not to self see if you can teach what not grab" Ranma muttered as the three of them collected themselves. "Ok" Ranma said "We are not going to freak out" all three of them were looking at him "Please sit"

Firo and Raphtalia did while Suu's lower body melted so that her legs turned into goo. "Close enough" Ranma said "Ok so I am officially confused and I want to clear the air"

*Gu*

"Air"

"Yes master"

"For the last time its Ranma not master," she shook her head "Ok Suu I am going to assume you can understand me even if you only seem to be repeating things back."

"Yes Master" Suu said.

Ranma half glared at Raphtalia "You are a terrible influence"

The girls ears drooped "Sorry"

"Ok first Raphtalia are you a ten year old or adult because I am very confused and wondering if I should be somewhat disturbed at how much I react touching you."

The ears went straight back up "You like touching me?"

"_Brutally honest, brutally honest have to be brutally honest_" Ranma repeated in her head "Yes I do and that is why I am wondering if I should be disturbed."

Raphtalia face seemed to glow with happiness as she spoke "I believe Ranma that my mind has caught up with my body"

"Ok then thats one thing off the list of possible problems, next Suu?"

*Bloop*

"Can you do this?" Ranma got up suddenly blurred into a series of maneuvers and strikes, Suu reformed her legs and copied him movement for movement to absolute perfection. "Raphtalia why are slimes considered weak if they can copy anything they see?"

"Um master I don't think there has ever been a slime like this, I just assumed it was something you did."

Ranma nodded "That is very possible" she looked at her shield "I have yet to see limits on this thing."Again she got her mind back on track "Firo"

*Gu?*

"You're a good girl"

The *Kewk* sound came out again as the bird trotted over to him bumped heads with her affectionately. The force of the blow would have given normal people a concussion but to Ranma it was a nice bump.

*Bloop*

"Oh no"

Suu attempted to do the same thing and Ranma got to find out what the inside of a Slime girl's head looked like. Extracting herself from that Ranma looked around at her companions and found herself starting to laugh while not quite understanding why, it felt really good.

The martial arts training the next day went very well Raphtalia was an excellent study and had clearly been spending time outside of their sessions practicing. Firo as it turned out already did know how to kick so that was good. Ranma moved on to endurance and strength, so far eight trees had fallen to the Philo Rial's legs.

Suu, well Suu was a strange case, anything goes was a martial art whose ultimate form was copying your opponent. Suu was better at it than him, no better to say she was eons better than him she saw things one and could do it. Well any physical thing, after seeing Suu copy Moko Takabisha an incident that had nearly blown his nuts off, literally head had tried to see if it applied to magic. No as it turned out she could not copy magic spells, but still the physical thing was cool. Now he just had to teach Suu why and when to use what he was teaching her. Long story short the day was a success except for Suu randomly firing off ki blasts out of her mouth but he was pretty sure that he impressed upon her the danger of such actions...he hoped.

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They entered town the next morning to get the armor for Raphtalia Suu, and Firo at his side, needless to say they attracted alot of attention.

"Um master are you sure its a good idea to bring Suu and Firo along?"

Ranma too noted what had companion saw, stare's lots and lots of stunned silent stares. "Well since she decided this morning to take a from as flat as a ten year old ya I think its fine."

*Gu*

"And we couldn't leave Firo behind isn't that right girl?"

*kewk*

Raphtalia sighed, they were close Oyaji's weapon shop now and despite the people's new found fascination/Revulsion with a Suu there were people still going about their jobs. A wooden cart entered the street behind them and rumbled away. At that sound Firo turned to stare at the cart and by thunder she had a completely jealous look .

*Gew* she kawed stomping the ground in frustration.

"What's wrong?"

"GU!"

Ranma looked from the wooden cart to the Philo Rial "Are you made that there is another of your kind pulling a cart?"

The bird shook her head resolutely "Well what is it?

*Gu*

"That does not help"

Firo flapped her short wings in an annoyed fashion and stomped her feet again "I'm sorry I don't know what is wrong"

The bird sulked the the rest of the way to the shop with nothing that any of them doing helping her bad mood. The shop looked a busy this morning; there was even a line of adventures with items ready to buy.

"Hey boy how are you" Oyaji trailed off as Suu walked in beside the martial artist "...boy you were gone for three days...three days. Where in the hell did you get a monster that only exists in erotic fiction."

"...come again?"

The old man massaged his forehead as the rest of his customers quickly paid for their equipment and left though not without many, many incredulous looks at Suu who paid them no mind. She seemed perfectly fine to stay by his side and say nothing "She copied one of my abilities and one day later here we are now."

"I dont...you can't….never mind" Oyaji shook his head "You know what I don't care, your armor is finished."

Raphtalia's excited look was more than worth what it had cost to make, the Darksteel armor was was as black as her katana. The undershirt was leather and jet black scales of steel were forged into its outer layer while silk coated the lining next to the skin. It was a perfect fit quite a ferocious looking armor and accented her beauty with just the right amount of danger.

It felt good to look at her now to let his gaze linger on her figure and not feel like he was doing something wrong. He had never truly understood why men preferred women in skimpy clothing; if they wanted to see them naked just tell them. No Ranma preferred this, a women in armor a girl who not only looked good in it but wore because she was going to use it. That pretty much how his mind worked, women were at their sexiest either naked or ready for combat. A cynical person might say that such a desire was born out of his trauma from a terrible childhood and an abusive finance and they would probably be right, but Ranma would still flip that person the bird anyway.

Raphtalia seemed to sense his gaze, now that he did not feel the need to shy away from her return look he let his posture and gaze reflect how much he was enjoying this. In his world such a stance would earn him a beating faster than you could say Mallet. Here Raphtalia 's mouth tilted up in a smirk clearly enjoying the affect she was having on him.

"Will I be seeing you before the next wave?"

"I don't think so I'm going monster hunting and I don't know how long we will be gone."

"I see well make sure to stop by after the next wave I might have some stuff for ya"

They bumped fists "Count on it"

As they exited the store another cart passed by and Firo stomped her foot on the ground squawking in indignation. "I don't get it," Ranma sighed "What do you want?"

Firo growled at him, a strange sound coming out of a beak "Why are mad? I know you understand me but I can't understand you." Firo dropped her head as if saddened and did not raise it until they exited the city.

"Note to self" Ranma muttered "Find out what Firo Wants...somehow" shaking his head he said out loud "Onward to Fuma, granted this will take a couple of weeks walking."

"It will be a good time for you to train us uninterrupted" Raphtalia pointed out "And you can do some more magic training"

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around"

She grinned "You mean besides eye candy?"

"That helps too"

And so the shield hero and his companions began their quest to kill the Cerberus of the Wave.

They made excellent pace once they got on the road, though Firo often ran ahead of them then circled and came up from behind. The girl had a lot of energy and from what he had seen of Philo Rial she could run for hours before becoming tired.

As fate or more likely a board universe they met someone not an hour into their journey Ranma grinned "Hey Motoyasu hows it going?"

The man jumped two feet back as if stung by a bee, "You"

"Me" Ranma answered.

"What are you doing here?"

"Heading to Fuma, where is Mein?"

"No of your" he trailed off as he sighted Suu.

The slime stared back at him with the same smile she gave to everyone, Firo stormed up beside him and gave Ranma a bump of affection. "Wh, how, that...that"

"Strange I know" Ranma answered

"That's no fair"

"...pardon?"

"You, you have a slime girl? Where is the justice in this world I wanted one."

Ranma blinked "Huh?"

"You get dark powrs, a slime girl who you can do whatever you want with, what's next enslaving an angel so you can stomp on another of my dreams."

"Ya know" Ranma said in a deadpan voice "When I woke up this morning I did not think to myself what are the Spear hero's fetishes? In fact I am sure I could have live my whole life without knowing ….thank you for my future nightmares have a good day."

Raphtalia gave the spear hero her choicest glare "Disgusting"

Suu copied her "Disgusting"

*Gu*

Ranma looked from Firo to the Motoyasu "She called you disgusting as well, In case you did not understand that."

"Shut up you trash spear, I don't care what you or that fat bird think. In fact I am going to get stronger so that when we meet next I will pin you to the earth and stomp on your"

Motoyasu did not realize that as he had been yelling he was moving closer to them, so it was a complete surprise when Firo's foot flashed out in a kick that hit square on her target. The Spear hero's eyes when white " balls" he whimpered as he went flying five meters into the air and down to a harsh landing.

"Good girl" Ranma said patting the Philo Rial's head "Very good girl"

Raphtalia did not bother to hide her amusement and satisfaction at seeing that incident.

Ranma looked around at his companions "Well moving on" and began to walk away from the moaning hero of the spear. The girls and the bird did not object to it, however for the rest of the day both Ranma and Raphtalia had smiles plastered to their faces while Firo preened herself pleased that her behavior had been appreciated.

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They stopped near evening which gave Ranma enough time to tire them out in training, however because of that there was no time for magic training. If he wanted to do that he would have to stop them earlier, good to know.

Shrugging out of his clothing he stepped into the pool beside where they had camped, the cold water was wonderful on the skin as his body changed from he to she. No sooner had she settled down when there was a squawk and the sound of bushes rumbling. Firo burst out of the brush leaping high into the air coming down in a cannonball like fashion.

Ranma held her breath as a wave of water washed over her drenching her completely, she popped back up for air red hair plastered to her body. "Hello to you to Firo"

"Gu" She said as she splashed around a little before swimming up to her and splashing water on to Ranma with her wings.

She started laughing "Stop, stop you got me."

"Master are you alright?" Raphtalia said as she walked towards the pool naked as the day she was born.

Ranma started at her for several seconds mouth open, heart pounding, thank god she was a girl right now otherwise a very natural, very embarrassing reaction would have happened.

She turned away face flushed red, the Raccoon girl giggled as she stepped into the pool and sank down until her chest was covered by the water. "Enjoy master?"

The redhead turned away face still crimson "That was unnecessary" she squeaked.

Raphtalia blinked and laughed again "I don't think I ever heard your voice break before master"

*Bloop* another feminine form emerged as Suu glided over the ground to them. As she entered the water her form melted into mass of slime floating on top of the water. Her two dark eyes remained steady following them taking in their antics.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ranma said after her face managed to return to normal.

Her eyes sparkled "Yes?

"Why are you doing that?"

"Because I want to"

"I think I raised you wrong"

"You only had a couple of weeks"

Ranma sighed "Aren't you embarrassed?"

Her reply was quick and without any hesitation "As long as its you master none whatsoever'

*Thump*Thump* went her heart "I uh.. I mean…" Ranma closed her mouth at a complete loss for words.

*Pu* Firo interrupted the moment much to Ranma's relief as she started splashing them with her wing beats. That quickly dissolved into a water fight, Suu won as she could apparently fire out the water she absorbed at high speed and strength.

Thankfully things did not get more awkward save for at the end when they were all clean and Raphtalia had made it a point to walking right in front of her with that hip swaying walk that even Ranma could not do, even as a girl.

Dinner was eaten and people turned in for bed, Suu morphed back in a ball form so she could take up her self appointed spot as her pillow….*Splash*...his pillow. Firo had made her bedding ground so close to him that the feathers would act as blankets.

Raphtalia had used to have her pallet about two feet away from him but since Suu and Firo were clearly invading his personal space and he was not complaining she was starting to as well. Now a days she slept snuggled into his back, he often had nightmares of Akane finding him in this position but upon waking up the next day would feel grand to know that she was nowhere near him. Before he went to sleep he glanced over at the Racoon girl, she was becoming incredibly bold and he blamed himself for all the times he had walked around the camp nude as a she. Sighing at his own bad influence he shook himself off and closed his eyes for some well deserved rest.

Something was off his body told him as his metal clock went off at the rising sun's light touched his skin. The feathers that had been touching his skin when he drifted off were gone and he was sure there had not been a warm small weight that his arms had been encircling. The form against his chest felt like a human body but he could still feel Raphtalia against his back.

Blinking open he checked to see what is was, now there are many ways to wake up in the morning but going to sleep next to a bird and waking up with a blond winged child who was stark naked was not a particularly good one. The girl in his arms was half his height with long blond hair that fell around her neck and shoulders. Small white angelic wings were curled up against her back and an her sleeping face had a practically glowing smile as she unconsciously buried it in his chest.

…..the forest around them were woken up as Ranma's voice rang out "What The Fuck!"

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well hope you enjoyed it fanboy out.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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Well Christmas is done and I finished a chapter so here you go hope you enjoy it.

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The child and the slime did not seem perturbed in anyway by Ranma's sudden loud outburst of incredulity. In fact the child with angel wings merely yawned and stretched her little body arching her back.

Raphtalia was up in an instant hands flailing for a katana that was no longer belted to her side, "Master what's….." she tried of at seeing the source of his confusion.

The blond girl opened her utterly piercing blue eyes that seemed to bore through him and the radiant smile that had been on her sleeping face reappeared. "Master!" she squealed bumping her head against his happily. "...Firo?"

She nodded and Ranma set up, Suu morphing into her busty humanoid form "Firo" she said as she looked down at the blond child.

"Suu!" the girl shouted wiggling out of Ranma's arms and leaping onto the slime girl to give her a hug.

"Firo" the slime said again, though her tone was softer, more gentle.

Ranma just sat there in a stunned sort of silence "M-m-master" Raphtalia said "What did you do?"

His mouth opened and closed several times "I didn't do anything"

"But Firo was a bird?"

"I don't have a shield or power that can do that, and my curse only works on me."

A light weight his his back as Firo reached around his neck and hugged him tightly "Now Firo can love on master just like Suu and Nee-san"

Ranma just sat there stunned by those words "...Raphatalia am I a bad person" he asked

"No master I'm quite sure this is you just you being you."

"Master, master" Firo said getting his attention "Watch this" She focused in the cute way only kids can do and magic flared as her body shifted back into her Phiol Rial form "Firo can transform at will" she told him.

Ranma just stared as a Suu's hand patted him across the head in a comforting way "I wonder what would happen if I adopted a pet rock?" he said aloud. Then he shivered "Better not to find out." Now how was he going to keep a shape shifting Philo Rial dressed if she decided to shift to human.

Speaking of shapeshifting Firo shifted down again into human form, and now he needed shapeshifting clothing, empty night where was he supposed to find something like that.

Hum...magic might be the answer, Illusion magic was a branch of spells all its own. But he knew nothing of that, having decided to focus on the battle magic more. Raphtalia was not quite done with her language lessons yet but she soon would be.

"If only I had an item that could cast illusions" he said out loud.

"What Master" Raphtalia asked.

He pointed at Firo who jumped at him causing him to catch her as she bumped heads with him again "Clothing is going to be an issue and I'm pretty sure there are no shapeshifting cloths readily available. I was thinking illusion magic could solve that for a time."

"You have Morrigan's Erring of Exhibition I don't see why you won't use that boy" They jumped startled surprise as the Katana spoke.

"What" Ranma said.

"*sigh* the Earring of Morrigan boy, that is what the thing literally does. You never knew if the Queen of Succubi was clothed or not. Plus she was a bit of an exibitionist and got a lot of thrills from walking around naked, it also allowed her to always be at the height of fashion when she wished that thing could create any sort of illusion clothing."

"...that is utterly terrifying... and how do you know that?"

The Katana snickered and the voice vanished, Ranma frowned and went to his pack reaching down to the bottom where another pack had been placed and opening that bag to pull out an obsidian earring.

"Well at least its not a charm artifact" he muttered, before he could think better of it he clipped it to his ear hissing as bite of pain. He stalked over to pool of water "Ok so I'm betting that if I think"

Suddenly the image of him wearing his old clothing from his world," Well that was easy"

He unclipped it "Hey Firo we need to have a talk"

"About what Master?"

It took half a day, one battle of dominance(Ranma won) and a well cooked meal and a kiss and threatening to sick Suu's tentacles on her to convince Firo to make the illusion of clothing when ever she sifted. Generally she wore the clothing she has seen him create but usually in shades of white and pink.

But with that done the got moving around the afternoon, Firo preferred to travel in monster from but occasionally when she felt Raphatalia and Suu were getting too much of has attention she would shift down to human form and demand attention. It really was not as bad as it sounded.

"Master!, Master!" Firo suddenly squealed. They had just reached a the Frontier town called Archon's Pass, oddly enough it was below a mountain pass of the same name. A wooden wagon rumbled by "Yes"

She pointed at the passing wagon "I want one"

*blink* "You want a wagon?"

She bounced like a child on a sugar high "Yes,Yes,Yes"

"Ok why?"

She gave him a look as if that was the stupidest question on the face of the earth "Because I want to pull it of course."

"...ok….I'll….put that on the to do list."

Firo nodded happily "Yay"

Several people noted their entrance, those several became everyone as the caught sight of Suu gliding along beside them. Well it was not like they planned on staying or anything,the road merely lead through it.

"Sir, Sir" a voice called.

Ranma turned to see who was calling them, a man who seemed to have no interest in Suu whatsoever was calling them. "Yes?"

"Sir did you happen to see the medical pelder on your way here?"

Ranma shook his head, the man looked almost panicked and very scared...but not for himself.

"What's wrong, maybe I can help." The man gave him a desperate look "My mother, she's sick and with her getting on in years she is not doing well. Do you have medical training?"

Medicine, that was what he had been forgetting to work on. "Not much but I do have some...magic that might help."

"I, I don't have much"

Ranma waved it off "I'm not charging anything, lead the way."

The man led them to a well built cozy house where he opened the door and glanced back "Can you companions wait outside please?"

Ranma nodded and turned to Firo "You listen to Raphtalia you understand the bird gave him a pouty look "Yes master"

Behind him the man jumped in surprise at the shock of the birds speech "Suu?"

*bloop*

"Ok you got it"

"Got it" she repeated.

Ranma shifted his shield to the Reiki Shield and stopped suddenly "Wait a minute" he called up the status window and began to move around proficiency points from his lesser shields to the Reiki Shield.

The shield color changed as veins of glowing white veins to weave like veins of blood across the shield.

True Power Unsealed: Ki Molding(Enhanced), Medical Bonus (Large), Special Ability: Ki Healing Bonus Based on Intelligence(Large)

"Ok healing enhanced by intelligence, that only meant one thing"

"I apologize for this" He told the villager man "But it will make it much easier for me to heal you mother" He took out a flask of water and dumped it over his head.

She shook her head as the cause to effect and walked past the stuttering villiger, his mother was lying on her bed, find white hair falling in an almost regal way about her head. She was coughing and pale but her eyes were sharp and determined. She was going going down without of fight, Ranma walked up to her "*Cough* who are you?"

"Someone here to help thats all" Ranma gently took her hand and focused her ki, what happened next was intense. The last time she had done this her healing had been to either replace what had been lost or destroy the hurt piece and replace it with a copy of her own that was what she had done with Raphtalia. Replaced her damaged lungs with perfect copies of her own far better and healthier lungs.

She had been able to tell the area which was affected but now her touch seemed to become a hundred times more sensitive. She, she saw what was happening in her mind eye, the festering poison of a spider bite tering its way through the bloodstream. Her ki raced along the veins of blood skipping good and healty cells and destroying and replacing only those infected or damaged. Before hand she would have had to destroy and replace all of it because she could not differentiate but now. It was like her ki was the perfect immune system for the body.

Her life force burned out the venom repairing damage done to the lungs, heart and liver with an almost impunitive ease. It didn't take long, not long at all. Ranma opened her eyes as she stood up, the old women took in a cleansing breath with no sign of coughing.

Ranma turned away "She will be tired, if you can get her some meat, if not heavy soup will do. If all goes well she with be out of bed by tomorrow."

The villagers mouth was opening and closing "But you just touched her, for like five seconds what, what did you do?"

Ranma stepped out of the house "healing duh" Firo, Suu and Raphtalia were waiting and moved in step with her "What who are you" the man called after him.

Ranma paused she knew other heros had passed this way, and if Motoyasu had been one of them the prefix shield might not be a good idea. What did those soldiers call her? "Minerva" She called back before turning away, they had to make good time today if she wanted to get the training she had planned and with the women healed no point in sticking around. The guy would probably try to pay her with something and that would get awkward.

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The town quickly fell behind them as Ranma started them into a nice jogging pace, monsters sometimes accosted them but it generally ended within several seconds. If this kept up it would be only a week to Fuma and that was just fine.

"Master" Raphtalia said "I think someone is coming"

Sure enough ahead of them fifteen armed men ran out into the road in a hurry, they were lightly armored at best and that armor looked utterly pitiful. The weapons looked fair mostly of the lot having a sword brandished with a dagger at their sides. One who was slightly better armored than the others and had a large oaken shield stood grinning as Ranma and her companions halted.

"Well, well, well" the man said licking his lips "what do we have here."

Raphtalia rolled her eyes and muttered "This ought to be good"

"A redhead, a good looking subhuman bitch and...whatever the hell that is?"

"That's a slime girl boss, they aren't supposed to exist"

"Ok then a slime girl" His eyes flicked over Ranma "nice tits" he said with a grin "So ladies you have a problem here, you see we fine gentlemen make our livings appropriating supplies, money, etc from travelers."

"So you're thieves" Ranma said

"Careful girl otherwise daddies gonna have to spank you, but as I was saying we would like your valuables and since you no doubt want to live we want to use your bodies as well if you don't mind"

There was plenty of muttered agreement between the men behind the man Ranma rolled her shoulders and popped her neck. "I'm gonna have to decline the offer generous as it is. Raphtalia, Firo buy me some time please, Suu keep them off me."

Before the bandit leader could retort Ranma was already speaking "I am the hero of the shield who commands the origin of power"

"Magic!" the bandit leader yelled "Get the mage" Whatever else he was the man was competent enough to see danger. His men surged forward at his yell, and Raphtalia hit them. Her target tried to twist his sword down to block a slash aimed at his lower legs but was nowhere close. She stepped past him angling her blade downward to deflect a slash, in the instant the enemys blade slid of her own she wiped the katana round her in a perfect Watershed strike.

Firo's reached her first opponent and kicked out hard, sending an armored man blowing through his companions like a leaf. Two made it through the girls vicious assault to strike at Ranma before she could complete the spell but Suu hit them like a wave. Literally a wave, her body morphed into a large wave that that crashed upon the two attackers with the force of a truck going thirty.

Then the girls jumped back "I have read and deciphered the laws of nature. Rain flames upon my enemies!"

"Tzuvait ・Fire Squall!"

Flaming balls of power rained upon their attackers like the wrath of Kami himself, Ranma had been careful not to put anymore power in it than needed. But whatever Saffron had done to her made the raining flame a powerful force.

The rain stopped and Ranma surveyed the destruction, they were alive, toasted but alive, Raphtalia had not been striking to kill so her targets were living as well.

None of them were moving however it seemed the fight had been taking out of them along with most of their skin. "What do we do with the master?"

Ranma pulled out his map "There is a town not far from here I was planning on passing it up but it does have law enforcement. She glanced from the men lying on the ground to Firo then to her shield "I have an idea, Firo how would you like to pull something?"

If a slime girl that was not supposed to exist caught attention, a White Phio Rial pulling fifteen men encased in green crystal made that attention tenfold. Ranma went about putting up the ropes she had used to let Firo drag them along. The several knights stationed here seemed to be in a bit of a shock as the shield her dumped fifteen crystallized bandits in front of them. "These guys were holding up travelers on the road that way?" she pointed "You guys can deal with them right?

"Um, ya...thank you I think"

Ranma nodded "Good, I'll be off then."

"Wait miss who are you?"

"Nobody important" Ranma answered as she and her companions took their leave, night found them near the area Ranma hoped they would end up in so they stopped for the evening. After going hunting to fill the nearly insatiable Firo and Suu Ranma was able to get some good magic training in. Raphtalia on the other hand finished the last tests of the Rosetta Shield and could now officially read and write. Good thing he had bought some illusion magic books for her, Suu and Firo had a sort of sparring match in which both of them spent more time trying to outdo the other in ridiculous stunts. So far Suu was the winner, I mean if your body is an amorphous goo held in shape by your own will there are a lot of crazy stunts you can do.

On the other hand both took their training seriously or at least he hoped Suu was sometimes it was hard to tell with her. But anyway Ranma's wind magic training was going very well the intermittent book was almost mastered. She glanced at the bracelet on her wrist the one which had some effect on wind magic. So far nothing felt off when she wore it nor did the wind magic behave in a way it was not supposed to.

She had translated the writing on it but it did not make sense, it said roughly translated "To me thou who are lord of the ever free, wind that shrouds all, air that saves all. Come to me ruler of air, come to me, I who bear you mark ask your aid and blessing, my name is" and then nothing. Whoever had made this had not inscribed there name.

What was the point of this bracelet? Ranma did not know but she wore it anyway given how life generally worked out its purpose would come out one of these days. With a shake of her head Ranma turned to head back to camp, and bumped into Firo who was in human from.

"Hold me" She demanded jumping at him. Ranma obliged catching the girl and placing her on her hip.

"Firo likes when you hold her."

She paused for a second looking at the angel child "That...that makes me glad Firo" The child made a pleased sound as Ranma carried her back to the fire they had going. Suu saw them coming and morphed into a ball. Ranma sat down on it and it shaped itself to provide a comfortable seat. Then her head reformed from the neck out and rested on her shoulder that was not occupied by Firo.

"Thank you Suu"

The slime girl smiled back at him and made a pleased gurgling sound that caused bubbles to float out of her body and into the air. Through the fire Ranma could see its light fall upon Raphtalia who was going over a Katana from. The way the shadows seemed to dance with her body only made her look more beautiful almost otherworldly so.

For a moment she pondered the thought of home, did she even want to go back? That through should have made her gut clench in nausea but it did not. The real answer was no she did not want to go back to a world of mallets and angry demi gods. She would much rather deal with swords and demigods thank you very much.

People needed protecting here, her companions needed protecting and that was enough. To protect and love that was more than enough and something she had found very little of in the world before.

A wet sensation touched her cheek and she turned her head to meet Firo's piercing blue eyes, the child had kissed her on the cheek. "Master's mind does not need to wander, Master can stay right here."

Ranma ignored a clenching in her throat and the sudden moisture in her eyes, she closed them smiling "Thank you Firo"

"Master can stay, Suu, Firo, Raphtalia will not hurt master, not like them."

Ranma whirled around in shock "Suu?"

The Slime smiled at him and mimed up but that had definitely been her voice speaking,"Not like them?" How in the hell would she know about them.

There was the sound of a blade sheathing as Raphtalia finished her form, she walked over to them sweat glistening in the fire light "Suu?" she said in a questioning tone. The slime expanded to allow another seat, with she took sitting down and leaning her head against Ranma's shoulder.

No one said anything more, no one needed to, this was a good place to let silence lull them to sleep.

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About noon the next day they started coming across something weird according to the map they were about to pass through a village called Rocks Edge what the map did not tell her was that it was over run by plants. The wooden houses that were not simply imploded from the inside out by huge vines coming out of windows and in the center of down a sort of central plant growing in the town square. All this Ranma could see from the top of the hill, just outside the village. She could also make out a makeshift camp beside the the town itself. There were people there, haggard and tired and losing hope, the tone of was somber and almost desolate.

"Master" Raphtalia said, but she did not need to continue Ranma was already walking down "Suu" she called out.

The slime engulfed her body solidifying into the invisible armor she could become, the only notable distinction that anything was different was Suu's turquoise and yellow feeler was attached in a like a link between a point on her lower neck and the point of the brain stem.

People noticed as they entered the camp and tired eyes turned to them, Ranma glanced at one of the men "Who is in charge here?"

He blinked and pointed towards a oldish man sitting at a makeshift desk writing a letter. Ranma began to make her way to the man when the sound of soft crying twinged her ears. Orienting towards it she made her way through the camp to a rather shabby looking tent. Around it people were very obviously not looking at it, at the entrance lay a dog one several times larger than any earth dog. But besides that looked exactly like a border collie, it was lying listlessly at the front of the tent whimpering in a low tone.

The crying was coming from inside the tent so she stepped around the dog and slipped into the tent. A woman was kneeling with a small childs head on her lap, the child was coughing even though she was clearly passed out. "Who are you" the mother asked.

Ranma looked from her to the child "What happened?"

The woman hesitated "She tried to go back to our house," her fist clenched "She just wanted her doll back, we had to leave it behind. She ran off while I was distracted and," more tears trailed "And some of the plants turned into monsters and attached her, poised her, without Kara" she looked to the dog lying on the ground she would have died. But no one has any antidote and the only merchant who came through here refused to sell for the little I had." her voice became quite "She's dying and I can't help her."

The shield morphed into the Reiki Shield without any conscious thought on Ranma's part "I think not" Ranma said and touched the girls heart. Power rushed out and Ranma could sense the poisonous pollen that was in her lungs slowly choking off her airways and seeping into her blood. And like cleansing fire Ranma's ki burned it away both she and the child glowing for a brief second. Then it was done Ranma stood and smiled at the mother "She will be fine" as if her words were the key the Child's eyes opened at that exact moment.

She exited the tent as the mother and daughter exchanged embraces, pausing only to heal the dog as well she made her way back to the man who was supposedly in charge. Behind her people looked in on what had happened and voices began murmuring as the new spread like wildfire.

The man was already coming to meet her by the time she got back "I am Kreat," he waved his hand over the village "I used to be mayor of this place until, well until the plants took over, if you don't mind my asking who are you?"

Ranma paused for a brief moment in thought "A traveler"

They stared at each other for several long moments "What happened here?"

He did not answer for a moment "Our Village was experiencing a famine, we sent out a request for help and it was answered by the hero of the spear."

Oh boy, Ranma thought. "The hero gave us a miracle seed that had been sealed since the time of the previous hero's.

Ranma glanced at the overrun town "I wonder why it was sealed" she said in a deadpan voice.

The mayor sighed "At first it seemed like a godsend, the harvest was amazing and things began to look up. But soon it began to grow out of control, nothing we tried could kill it and then as if in response to our attempts it evolved into a monster."

Ranma sighed "That fits"

"I dont...I dont understand why a hero would do this to us." The mayor whispered "We treated him with the utmost respect, no one insulted him, no one."

"Wild guess he probably had no idea what the seed did besides grows really well"

"But he's a hero"

"Who is still mortal just like the rest of us."

"Ahhhhh" a scream echoed from within the town.

Ranma whirled towards the source "What the hell"

"Oh no," the Mayor sighed " Some adventurers said they were going to go in to try and raise their Level. I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen. That scream might have been coming from them."

The Mayor spent several seconds staring at Ranma waiting for an answer before the afterimage of her figure faded.

Three adventures were lying on the ground with four plant like monsters wrapping them up in vines. Two died in an instant the force of of Ranma's speed and blow tearing the upper halves of the monsters clean off.

On of the other two reacted with commendable speed and unleashed a blast of poisons gas. Suu shifted her from slime crawling up cover Ranma's eyes and nose filtering the poison out of the air she breathed. One kick annihilated the third plant and Suu's head Reformed on her shoulder and fired off a beam of ki from her mouth killing the last one.

Ranma grabbed the adventures and in several moments was out of the village. Firo and Raphtalia were both in the process of moving when she landed in front of them. "Welp" She said "We have a job to do to."

She dropped the adventures on the ground and pointed at the Mayor "You take care of these morons."

"Raphtalia, Firo with me" The girls fell into place Ranma popped her neck "Alright listen up this time around you two are going to be front line, I'm gonna use this opportunity to try out magic."

"Yes master" They both said

"Ya know I've given up on telling you not to call me that but never feel like you have to."

"Yes master" they both said again purely to annoy her.

The Tanuki and the Philo Rial advanced into the town with Ranma several steps behind a spell held at the ready. Around them vines wired and shifted, just beyond sight monsters got into position.

The vines struck like living things abruptly tearing themselves off walls and lashing out. Like a flash of darkness itself Raphtalia blurred into motion severing the striking plantlife with contemptuous ease. It was slightly more difficult for Firo to deal with the vines kicking them, no matter how much power was put into it did little. The best she could do was not get caught, that changed however when the actual plant monsters attacked with more mass on them and a solid mostly unbending form they were turned into green paste by the Philo Rial.

Ranma raised her hand and lighting from it began to strike the creatures around her, she would have preferred to use fire but burning down what was left of the village did not seem like a heroic thing to do. Her mouth moved a mile a minute chanting the words to spells that she had burned into her memory. At the command of one hand stone tore its way from the earth to slam into monsters, pits opened under their feet and violently closed shut. At the command of the other lighting blasted out as Ranma turned the forces of nature into her own personal toys. However this was not an act of arrogance, she wanted to find out how well her mana held up with extreme use. This was a good a time as any to find its limit, but so far nothing was going wrong. Compared to the mana consumption of Reiki these spells were very little indeed.

Tremor sense warned her of and attack below and a she cast a spell the earth to crush the veins before they could surprise her companions.

Her shield told her the names of the demons they had been fighting were Bio Plant, Plantriwe, and Mandoragora.

Bio Plant is the general name for all the common plants. Plantriwe is a demon in the shape of a human made of vines. Mandoragora seems to be an immobile plant fortress.

According to Firo , the Plantriwe scatters poison pollen with the big flower on top of its head.

The Mandoragora sprays acid from a vine to weaken and drag in its prey.

Bio Plant is the demon that is producing these two.

Ranma called to the wind to spiral around the Raphtalia and Firo purifying it so that the poison goin everywhere would not affect them. Suu kept her safe, the slime girls body filtering out the poison in the air and releasing it off her back in little purple bubbles. But as this was happening Suu started speaking to her as if the poison somehow set her off. "Master is powerful Its sexy" her voice cooned in her head "But then agian master is always sexy aren't you?"

Had they been outside of battle in a normal circumstances this would have worried her, but her now, in the middle of a battle, adrenaline singing through her body. The elements of air earth and lightning swirling around her bending to her will. It felt good, in fact he could feel some of Suu's emotions merge with hers. Could feel the burning love and passion that was the core of the slime girl, the desire to be with the person that had given her the power to become what she was. Suu was not like a mortal, she did not need time to have love bloom, she loved her, she loved him, she loved Ranma no matter the face or body.

From that well of passion, love and lust, Ranma drew in confidence, gathering her mana she began to chant a spell that did not exist. From her practice she had created the theory of a spell and Suu's emotions gave her the confidence to test it. "I am the hero of the shield who commands the origin of power, I have read and deciphered the laws of nature. Let those creatures who exist in the embrace of air face the thunders wrath. Extinction Rain"

Ranma howled as power was ripped from her and sent skyward, for the briefest of instants she felt the existence of all who were surrounded by air in a several hundred yard radius. In that moment she bent the spell to ignore herself, Raphtalia and Firo.

The cloudless noon day sky was burned white as hundreds of bolt of lightning fell upon the town. The noise was deafening the light was blinding or would have been if Suu had not engulfed her entire body and shielded her against the effects.

The light faded as swiftly as it had come, Raphtalia and Firo were standing dazed by the light and noise. Ranma reached them and with the last her her mana used Reiki to alleave them. She felt Suu reassert her own feelings and pull them out of hers making it easier to think clearly.

Raphtalia was breathing hard "Master, what was that?"

Ranma found herself breathing hard as Suu's body retracted so only her mouth was covered "That...that was a custom spell I had the sudden urge to try"

Raphtalia still half covering her ears muttered "A little warning next time would be great"

Ranma let out a nervous chuckle "Sorry"

Firo shook her feathered head as if shaking off water "That" She said "Was...Awesome" She hopped five feet into the air entire body trembling with excitement. Ranma felt a grin tug at her face, the dust thrown up by the spell fell around them revealing hundreds of dead plant monsters.

"Wow" Raphtalia whispered.

A low rumble as if that of an enormous creature, wood creaked and groaned as enormous veins were pulled out of houses and earth cracked and splintered as what appeared to be roots were retracted and all heading towards the center of the town.

They moved along with it until the reached the source, a tree like demon had grown inside the middle of town, as the sighted it the thing let out a low groan and a single enormous eye opened at its base.

Ranma opened her mouth to say something but the thing howled at them and veins shot out, with plant monsters pulling their way out of the ground. Narrowing her eyes Ranma stalked forward, veins and plant like hands grabbed at her feet and ankles but even in girl form her strength was more than enough to tear those to shreds.

With the eye before her she howled and punched it right in the center, words cannot describe how messy that was, as the inner parts of the eye went flying everywhere. For a moment Ranma could see a single floating seed in its center as the damn thing regenerated the missing piece.

Before it could do anything Ranma stuck her hand into the eye wrapped it around the seed and yanked it out. The tree became inanimate instantly, pain flared through her hand and tiny vines shot out from the seed piercing her flesh like needles and shooting up her veins. She let out a snarl as black and green veins replaced the normal colored blue and red. Her internal Ki flared up against the intruder and for a moment her arm looked like dark clashing with light as her lifeforce fought off something coming to take it. With a final snarl Ranma's arm bulged for a second and the ki annihilated the tiny veins. The seed in her hand went still as her ki washed over it, "Ow" she muttered opening her hand to stare at the tiny seed in it.

Around her the remaining plant monsters that had been rising withered to brown and collapsed, with the girls help she gathered the remains from the plants.

Requirements for Bio Plant Shield have been revealed.

Requirements for Plantriwe Shield have been revealed.

Requirements for Mandoragora Shield have been revealed.

Bio Plant Shield

Unsealing completed... Equipment Bonus: Plant Remodelling

Special Effect: Hook

Plantriwe Shield

Unsealing completed... Equipment Bonus: Intermediate Compounding 2

Mandoragora Shield

Unsealing completed... Equipment Bonus: Plant Analysis

"Plant Remodeling?" Ranma asked

She looked at the bio plant seed and placed it on the shield, a window appeared into existence with words and numbers.

Fertility 9

Productivity 9

Vitality 9

Immunity 4

Intelligence 1

Growth Potential 9

Variability 9

She thought about it for a moment putting her huge intellect to work "Each of these words they have to be plant attributes. So if this thing can change the values then" Ranma fiddled with stats Taking away the ability to mutate lowering the rate of growth, increasing quality of food produced. It was kind of fun actually, changing something as fundamental as a seed making it better.

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When she excited the village and entered the camp a cheer went up from those watching, a new man was standing next to the mayor, he was younger and taller but had a sort of humble air about him that Ranma found endearing.

The man bowed slightly "Greetings I'm the feudal lord of this land and I thank you for your help, um what is your name?"

Since Motoyasu had been through here that meant the he or Mein had probably spread some rumors. She her real name would most likely cause trouble. "Minerva" She said "My name is Minerva"

Two of the men who looked like that might have been soldiers once seemed to flinch at that name eyes growing wide as they watched her.

The feudal lord did not seem to see anything wrong as he nodded "I see thank you Minerva"

"It was nothing, things like this are what I do, and speaking of that" she handed the man one of the bio plant seeds "I took the liberty of modifying this seed to make is better and less prone to turning into a demon" Before the man could open his mouth and ask how "I used magic" she said. "Anyway you don't have to use it if you dont want to but it will help with the famine and will not turn into a monster."

The lord stared at the seed in his hand and closed it "Thank so much, how can we repay you?"

"...Do you have a spare wagon?"

"A heavy one master" Said Firo causing the lord and everyone near them to jump in surprise at the talking bird. "Let me rephrase that do you have a heavy wagon." she pointed at Firo "She's been wanting one.

As it turned out they someone was generous enough to simply give their wagon to them after all they had done, they also filled it up with produce from the now dead bioplant. "Well thats gona cover us for two or three days" Ranma said

"Again thank you Minerva are you sure you do not want to say the night?"

Ranma shook her head "No I have a quest I'm on you just happened to be on the road."

"Thank God for that then"

Firo was practically trembling with excitement at the thought of pulling a heavy cart which Ranma still did not understand but to each his or her own. The girl/bird probably would not wait an entire night to try out her new cart. Raphtalia looked at the cart with a slightly green expression on her face, "Don't worry I can take care of the motion sickness if need be" she told her.

The Tanuki girl did not look any happier at that statement but she did look a bit grateful,

"Suu" Ranma said.

The slime peeled off her into a pile of goop before reforming into her child like body, Ranma looked at her thoughtfully they would need to have a talk about that thing that happened in the fight. Emotions linking like that could not have been intended but the fact that it could happen and affect her decision making was a problem. Suu looked away from her the color of her body shifted to a deeper and somehow more sad blue.

"Hey" she said flicking her on her forehead "Mistakes happen, we will work them out. I dont blame you for anything."

Her color returned to normal and Ranma knew her instincts had been right about the change in color. Truthfully she was not mad, only concerned but this would be a private conversation later.

Raphtalia was still looking unhappily at the cart "How fast do you think Firo can pull it" she asked with a gulp.

"Faster than it could take normally" Ranma said with complete assurance after a moment in thought she asked "Suu can you armor this cart like you do to me?"

*Bloop* was her answer as the slime flowed past him and engulfed the cart body turning practically invisible. Once that was done her head formed beside where Ranma was going to be sitting at the reins. "There now it won't break apart"

Raphtalia sighed in defeat and got in the cart, while Ranma had one of the villiger show her how to harness and unharness Firo, once that was done she took took her place on the cart while Raphtalia curled herself up in a corner and looked unhappy.

Grabbing the reins and aligning themselves with the right road she let the eager Firo go and off they went. About two minutes into the ride Ranma found herself extremely glad Suu was helping hold this admittedly well designed cart together. Raphtalia had given up and allowed Suu to engulf her in a cocoon of slime where she could not see, feel or hear the jolts and jumps of the cart. Over Ranma Suu had covered her legs and thighs cementing her to the cart and keeping her from flying off like she had on the first time the wagon gained two feet of air.

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By the time an hour had passed Ranma was beginning to wonder just how much boundless energy Firo had, keeping a forty five mile and hour pace while pulling this cart was no mean feat and they were making incredible time when compared to jogging.

If Firo had been in charge she probably would have ran until she dropped from exhaustion, Ranma pulled her to a stop at four in the afternoon. Sweat covered the bird causing the sunlight to shine off her, the creature tried to give him a glare at making her stop but she tethered morphing into her human form to fall in her arms and give a contented sigh.

"Firo clothing" Ranma mentioned, the girl sighed and a simple cloth dress appeared "Thank you Firo"

"Your welcome Master" she muttered pressing her face against his chest, Suu's body slowly reformed peeling itself off the wagon and Raphtalia took a moment to get her bearings after being cocooned for four hours.

Upon seeing the position he and Firo where in she let out a growl of possession, Ranma shook her head and put the tired Firo against the wagon "Raphtalia we have to make camp."

The girl sighed and got to work, having done this for the past several weeks it was a swift and easy process. Suu hung off to the side waiting for the talk she wanted to have with her, after they were done and Firo was napping on a sleeping pad Ranma said "Raphtalia I need to have a private talk with Suu."

Raphtalia hesitated "Yes..master"

Hands in pockets Ranma headed off a short distance with Suu following "Suu if you would could you please answer my questions."

"...Yes Master"

Ranma sighed, she really, really wished they would call her Ranma "What happened back there with our emotions?"

Suu came to a stop along with her and studied her "That...bond came from this" she waggled the green and yellow feeler on top of her head for emphasis. "It is how Suu's kind communicate master," her eyes turned away from him "No slime could speak" A smile alit her face "Until I met you, until you showed Suu the power of her life force to change to become strong. We slime use our emotions to communicate with each other and it is done through this" she pointed to her feeler again. "As Suu gets stronger, as master uses Suu longer our bond deepens and if Suu is not careful our emotions link."

Ranma pursed her lips "I see, thats not so bad, I just need to prepare for it." Tilting her head thoughts ran through it "Hmm, Suu armor me again."

"Yes master"

Suu engulfed her as she had before connecting her feeler to Ranma's brain stem, the martial artist closed her eyes focusing on that point. She felt it when there minds touched, it was hesitant at first on both sides but quickly they found a middle. Without speaking Ranma thought what she wanted Suu to do. The slime around her left hand tightened as Ranma held her hand in a Knife hand pose. She could just barely see and edge as Suu tightened and hardened the slime around it. "Combat Shapeshifting" Ranma said outloud "Cool"

At her thought Suu peeled off her reforming into her mid form inbetween busty and flat "Thank you Suu"

The girl smiled "Will Master Kiss Suu?"

"...well in for the penny"

Ranma leaned over touched the Slime girl's cheek and planted a gentle kiss on her lips, it was obvious that Suu had not expected Ranma to actually do it as the Slime's color shifted to scarlet but just as quickly fading back to normal blue.

They walked back to came only to find Raphtalia glaring at them, "W..What" Ranma asked.

Her lips pursed and she stalked over to Ranma, on reflex Ranma felt her body flinch in expectation of a hit but all that was side was "You better Kiss me to."

Ranma blinked "You were spying on me?"

"No the sword told me"

Ranma glanced at the sword "How did it know."

"Its not fair" Raphtalia sniffed "Unless.. you dont like me"

"Oh for the love of" Ranma snarled grabbing the back of Raphtalia's head and pulling her into a hard rough kiss. She pulled away watching as Raphtalia's face flushed and the stumbled back in a daze.

"Satisfied?" Ranma asked

She nodded as she sort of flopped to the ground blinking and grinning "No fair, No fair, No fair" Firo said stomping up to him in her human form "You can't just kiss Nee-san and not me"

Ranma just stared wondering how things had gotten like this "No fair" Firo said again Wings flaring out in agitation "Fine, Fine, Fine," Ranma said kneeling down and giving the girl a short light and chaste kiss on the mouth.

"There" she said

Firo puffed her cheeks looking non too happy at the difference in how she had kissed her compared to Raphtalia. But thankfully for Ranma's sanity the girl decided that it was fine for now, in the silence that followed she came to the realization that she had just down her first legitimate consensual kiss….as a girl….

Ranma sat down a frown on her face as she stared into the fire wondering just what had come over her. "I am spending way too much time as a girl" she whispered to herself.

Starting up she grabbed a couple of magic books and went off to practice, leaving Raphtalia and Suu in there post kiss afterglow and Firo to rest from her running. Yes some training might clear her head, that and a little monster killing. Tomorrow they would be heading north and from what she had heard things were gonna get chilly.

Four days that is how long it took them to reach the Eastern part of the country and just as Ranma expected it got a lot colder. Firo was fine though she was spending more time in bird from which was much warmer. Raphtalia was enduring and did not complain at all, granted Ranma thought it was mostly because of having an excuse to share the same bedroll as him in the name of conserving warmth. Suu seemed fine though he was not sure if Suu was even slightly affected by the elements save for extremes.

He was fine, after swimming the way from Japan to China and his training in soul of Ice this was nothing.

Ranma LV 50

Raphtalia Lv 40*

Firo Lv 40*

Suu Lv 40*

"The hell was that star and why had they stopped leveling?" Ranma found himself wondering.

He had recently enhanced the Sword Horn Shield as it was his main offensive weapon, the damage aura buff/debuff was upped and the shield had gained the piercing keyword which meant that a defence no matter how powerful still took some damage. He had also on a whim enhanced the the Diamond Dog Shield which increased its defence and gave a more powerful version of the Crystal Wall ability.

* * *

In the distance a mountain rose towards the heavens and according to the map they were near Fuma where Crassus was apparently headed. The mood of the land changed as they reached this point, the soil was dark enough to be called black, the trees were dead and dried, the road was in disrepair and a feeling of oppressive malfeasance seemed to permeate the very air itself.

"Master" Raphtalia said with a shiver as they rounded a bend in the road "Something is wrong"

"I know what you mean."

The Village came into sight and their mutual feelings on the matter were proved right, in normal circumstances life in a village was active as everybody worked to prepare for winter or plant for spring. This place looked one step above a zombie town most of the people Ranma could see were moving slower than normal. Many had ragged coughs and in the distance he could see a Wagon with several dead bodies being carted away.

Without a word he opened a flask of water and dumped it before the single person who seemed to be guarding the village could clearly see them. When they got close enough he waved them off "Please miss you should leave a plague had fallen on us." He leaned on his spear hacking for several seconds "You need to leave now. Ranma pulled to a stop and got out of the cart "Miss please" the man started to say before she touched him. Her ki flared out and the man shuddered at the sensation "Wha?" he whispered touching his throat "What did you?"

Ranma walked past him speaking "Bring me all the mana potions you can find and spread the word I'm a...healer and I am here to help."

The man blinked staring at her in stunned silence "Well...hop to it."

With a start of surprise the man took off running, as things naturally did word spread fast the healthy ones dragged themselves to her as Ranma performed Reiki on everyone she could get her hands on.

Many asked "Who are you" to which Ranma answered "Minerva"

She did not pay attention to the almost worshipful way they looked at her as she laid hands on them. House to house she went to the bedridden ones who could not walk to her, with the guard who had managed to find fifteen mana potions and her her own natural recovery rate she was able to keep moving.

A crowd had gathered at the sight of her and whispers and rumors began to fly at the speed of wildfire but Ranma did not care. Raphtalia and Firo helped as best they could carrying people to her for Reiki within two hours Ranma was at the building where the ones worst off have been placed.

A man they called a treatment master was working on them when she arrived, his words had fallen silent on shocked lips as Ranma's ki burned away the plague from the bodies of the dying. From the windows the crowd watched the martial artist having been forbidden by the treatment master to enter. Of course he did not know Suu was hiding in her next to invisible armor from on Ranma but that would not hurt him.

The last of the victims breathed easy as Ranma took in a breath and plopped down in a chair the Treatment master held out. Even for her stamina what she had just down was exhausting, if it had not been for her advanced Reiki shield what she had done would have been suicidal.

Something hot pressed against her hand and she realized the Treatment master had handed her a cup of hot tea. It was bitter but in a good way, something in it soothed the nerves and relaxed the body. Only after she had taken two large gulps did the man speak to her, "I...words cannot convey how grateful I am you did what you did."

She took another gulp of tea "Wha...what did you do, what kind of magic destroyed the plague, She let out a tired laugh "The magic kind"

Apparently humor was not the best thing for this sustain as the man just blinking "My apologies, it is an ability unique to me, I'm just glad it is of use."

"Of use?" the man stuttered "You just cured the town of a plague in two and a half hours" the man paused "At last until they catch it again"

Ranma glanced up "No chance they built an immunity to it?"

The man shook his head "This plague is not the natural kind"

"Of course its not" Ranma said "Why would it be"

"I take it you did not know what has been going on?"

She shook her head "I was coming her too" she shook her head "Damn I forget do you know if Antillus Crassus is here?"

He pointed to a man sleeping on one of the cots "He was one of the worse off until you saved him, probably going to be out for a while."

"Thank god" Ranma breathed.

"Do you mean to tell me that you did not know the plague was here but simply started helping because you saw it?"

Her stamina was starting to return must have been something in the tea "Sure"

"But what if they don't pay you" She waved a hand "Thats not important and I really could care less." She looked up at the treatment Master "I help people, that is what I do" she stuck out a hand "Minerva"

"Dorn of the Medical Guild" The man said in an automatic fashion.

"You said this was not natural so what is causing it"

The man seemed to almost get whiplash at how fast Ranma had switched the conversation of possibly of no reward to what the hell was going on. Shaking his head as if he could not understand it he began to speak " About two weeks ago the hero of the sword came on a quest to slay a dragon that had taken up residence in the local area."

"Ren" Ranma muttered.

"Normally dragons make their nests in the deep mountains or other inhospitable environments that are easily defended but this one decided not to. It was harassing the locals or at least that is what they say, I was not there from that particular incident but they posted a reward and the Sword Hero answered."

"Ok" Ranma said "I follow"

"He killed it in short order and and took what he wanted from it, after that adventures began to ferry materials from it to here the villages bought and sold it for a great profit."

"I'm sensing a but coming"

The man paused and almost gave a cynical laugh, almost. "Yes, but as time when on the corpse of the dragon began to rot." He looked away and into the distance "Dragons are powerful creatures of magic and strength truly someone should have know better than to let the body rot away."

"So the rot of the dragon is causing this?"

"The rot, the remnants of magic, hell its core might still be there for all we know."

Ranma paused "why haven't you disposed of it then."

"By the time it was noticed everything had changed, the poison, the Misma of the thing has permeated the air the closer you get to it the stronger it grows. As you breath it in it steals straining away from your body and will kill you given enough time. Normal adventures would die before they reached it and most of them have been avoiding this area because of the epidemic."

"That fits with normal human nature" Ranma said.

"Indeed, and what's worse the Misma had made the demons of this mountain range stronger, I am sure you noticed the difference while you were coming here."

As a matter of fact she had not, but that was probably due to the immense difference in power between her and everybody else in the world.

"Things are getting worse, you coming had changed that somewhat no one will die in the foreseeable future but unless the source of the plague is taken out they will catch it again."

Ranma leaned forward "So where is this dragon corpse"

"You are not seriously thinking"

"Oh i'm done thinking about it."

"But the misma"

She waved her hand "I have ways of dealing with that, or rather someone I know does."

*Blink*Blink* "I..I think I believe you"

"Well thats good"

After staring at her for a few moments Dorn shrugged and asked "Do you have a map?"

"As a matter of fact" Ranma said pulling out the one she had been using to travel with.

The crowd parted as she exited the treatment building "Firo, Raphtalia"

They pushed their way through the crowd and fell in behind her "Are you going to save us?" One person asked.

Ranma paused for a brief moment thinking "A martial artist protects the weak" she said and continued walking. She made her way back to the cart and glanced at the guard whom she had healed first "Is there any place I can put this?"

As it turned out a stable was opened up at truly supernatural speed for Firo's wagon, Firo herself was very disturbed at the thought of leaving it behind but Ranma assured her they would come back for it. word had spread that she was going to do something about the source of the plague. "Who is she, why is she doing this. Is it for a reward?" All these and more we're questions flying around her, questions that she did not care about.

Her fake name was also flying about "Minerva" again several of the men, men who looked like they might have been soldiers at one point were given pause at that name. And the looks they gave her were far more intense and piercing as if they were having a struggle with themselves.

Ranma knew Cyril found the name amusing but he had never told her why or even why some of the people in his division found meaning in that name. But no matter she had a dragon corpse to burn or and this was the more likely situation given her life to recall then burn. Because the option for thing to reanimate and try and kill her had happened several times in the past.

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They left the towns borders and once they were away from prying ears Ranma stop them "Alright listen what they think is happening is that a rotting corpse of a dragon is causing this. Now given my luck if the thing is not a zombie now it will be by the time I get there. Now apparently the plague is spread through air so Suu can you do something for them?"

The Slime's head appeared and she nodded "Um Master what is she going to do?" Raphtalia asked nervously.

The slime spit two globs of goo into the faces of Raphtalia and Firo and both cried out in surprise as it spread over her mouth and nose. "That will keep you two from being affected" Ranma told them.

Firo shook her head and stomped her foot "This is weird" she protested.

"But better than being sick" Ranma pointed out.

"But master would just heal us"

"That is beside the point" Ranma informed the Phio Rial.

The path followed a large valley in between the slopes of two mountains, what had once probably been a lush green forested area but the misma of the mountain had twisted the land into a desolate shadow of its former self. Demons attacked frequently but posed little real threat beyond slowing them slightly. Along the way she managed to unlock a few more shields

Requirements for Poison Tree Shield have been fulfilled.

Requirements for Poison Frog Shield have been fulfilled.

Requirements for Poison Bee Shield have been fulfilled.

Requirements for Poison Fly Shield have been fulfilled.

Most of these shields would be for use only to reskill other shields but it was nice to see see her weapon evolve even further.

As the ventured deeper more demons would appear and poison began to rise from the very ground itself. However thanks to Suu it was no problem whatsoever, however purple bubbles began to float away from the layer of the slime girl that covered her body.

Similarly the slime Suu had used to cover the faces of the other girls were giving off purplish bubbles. In her head Suu's voice spoke "Its how we get rid of toxins master"

That was kind of cool to know, pulling her head back into the game Ranma unleashed a barrage of punches that pushed back an entire wave of demons. The monsters seemed to come to the conclusion that attack was useless and abruptly the attacks stopped.

Of course the attacks could have also stopped because they reached the dragon corpse. It was not a pretty sight as dead bodies go. Apparently Ren and other adventures had taken its teeth, wings, tongue, save for small bits of rotting skin the thing was literally bones and rotting meat.

Several of those poison flies were buzzing around but sped off as the got closer, Ranma halted forty feet away from it. "Even though dragon parts might be able to give me new shields I think this is close enough."

She raised her hand "I am the hero of the shield who commands the origin of power. I am the keeper of flame who rises to meet the blessed sun, now burst and disperse. Inferno."

It was like someone lit a bonfire the size of the creatures huge body, fire and flame engulfed it and a horrid stench filled the air. Ranma waited, watching for any sign of movement "Master perhaps it wont"

"Dont say it" Ranma shouted in a panic "That always makes it". A roar erupted from the burning husk "Worse" she shouted readying the Stone Hide Shield. The magical flame she had set to light was extinguished as the creature's own aura quashed it.

It was almost fascinating to watch as the Dragon stood on its bone legs howling to the sky, inside the bones meat began to liquify and new scales began to from, skin and muscle, wings and tail. Pieces were still missing from all over the place so it was not perfect but the thing seemed almost berserk with rage and its black eyes found them.

"Sorry Master" Raphtalia said after a moment.

"Not your fault" Ranma replied.

There was no signal between them, no look or glance, all three burst into motion at the same time. Moving to strike before the dragon could prepare it own assault, the things almost clumsy paw swipe was easy to avoid. Leaping lightly into the air Ranma landed on the outstretched forearm running up it and driving a knee into the things smaug like head. Even weakened physically as she was by her female body the power behind that blow would have torn steel apart.

The dragon's head rocked back just as Firo kicked it in the chest, the power behind that blow from that creature physical lifted the damn thing off the ground by several inches.

Both of their attacks were based of off strength the power to strike with metal crunching force, Raphtalia was different, strong though she was especially due to her training with Ranma. She was technically the physically weakest of the group. Her attack still had enormous power behind it but also something more, it was the timing, it was her breathing, the way she angled her Katana just so.

She came in low, just behind Firo and when the dragons body was bent upward by the combined force of the Shield Hero and Phio Rial she attacked in an upward slash that struck the lower part of the dragons chest.

Her blow created a gash almost four feet in length and nearly a foot deep, she lept to the side as a truly gory amount of black ichor spewed out everywhere.

The roar of the dragon shook the stone beneath them and it reared onto its hind legs and spewed out a breath of pure misima. It engulfed the three of them in a cloud of pure death, and Ranma felt Suu's indignation, her will to challenge this monster. Her power protected them from that torrent of poison and Ranma rammed herself into the dragons midsection. The thing did not need to breath but its mouth reflexively snapped shut. Firo lept clean over her, the birds feet striking in a perfect flying side kick. At the same time Raphtalia spun behind the dragon and cut at the sinews of muscle in its leg.

The culmination of all three events was the dragon tipping over backwards and landing on its back. Ranma switched the Stone Hide to the Sword Horn and with a howl of her own shoved it right where the things heart should have been.

The hoped for kill strike was a failure and the dragon rolled forcing her off of its exposed midsection. The even now Ranma could see the damage they were inflicting heal, not quite too fast yet but healing it was.

Well she could try hitting it harder, blurring forward avoiding a snap of its mouth she unleashed hundreds of punches in the space of a breath battering and deforming the Dragons ribcage and cutting off one of its roars in mid swing.

Its wings snapped forward creating a gust of dust and wind that nearly knocked her off of her feet. It sensed her weakness and its wings snapped back for a second buffet. Until Raphtalia cut the right one off and Firo broke the joint that connected the left one to its body.

Its tail flickered out smashing into Firo and knocking her tumbling, Raphtalia had to dive roll away from the fight to avoid the backswing of the tail.

Before anything else could happen wind suddenly wiped around Firo helping her right herself "Now Firo mad" she screeched. The bird took a moment to right herself and when she started running the ground where she had been standing actually broke apart. As she moved magic seemed to bend around her, streamers of wind peeling off behind her. "Firo Kick" she shouted.

Her kick punched through the dragon's scales like they were nothing, skin and body rippled as her blow pulverized the dragons insides. Against a normal creature that might have outright killed or at least severely damaged it.

However the zombie like nature of their opponent meant it had a different reaction, it roared in pain which it could still feel and twisted its neck like a snake. Firo's leg was trapped inside its body and she had to take a moment to pull it out. The dragons head snapped at the bird, Ranma reacted instantly a ball of ki flaring to life powered by fear and rage. She did not even take the time to scream out the name of the ability. A split second before the dragons head could reach Firo the ball of screaming ki crashed and exploded blowing off two thirds of its head.

Somehow the thing still roared with most of its head gone and Firo leapt back as it blindly tried to use its head as a club. Its tail wiped out in an arc but in its blind agony it was slower than it should have been. Raphtalia had taken to the air in a perfect fling leap bring down an overhead slash at the midpoint in tail.

Her katana cleaved through leaving a trail of black blood along her arc the thing started thrashing wildly and they were forced to leap back to avoid it. Ranma took that moment to catch her breath, she watched at the tail, deformed rib cage, began to return to normal. But the head of the dragon was not growing back, the part where she had thrown her lifeforce at was not healing.

A grin touched her face "That made perfect sense, life was the opposite of death, this dragon was something dead. Her ki, her lifeforce was the manifestation of the very fact she was alive. Several options came to mind as to how she could take advantage of this and she puked the craziest and most subtle of the options. The shield on her wrist shifted to the Glow Shield, and with a quite effort she sent her ki through it. The light from the shields became somehow brighter and purer taking on a almost white gold flare.

Her status screen updated suddenly "Requirements for the Glow Shield have been changed, true power changed….true power unsealed: Sacred Light Aura (Creates an area of life in a fifty foot area centered around the user. While within this space all healing, and regeneration based off negative energy and Death are reduced to 0. In addition all users without the undead descriptor have weapons that count as Holy for purposes of dealing damage and ignoring damage reduction)

A glow shrouded Firo and Raphtalia and the looked over themselves in confusion, the dragons healing came to an abrupt stop as the aura engulfed it as well. With a wide grin Ranma howled as she charged forward blurring from sight, there was a flash of light and the dragons ribcage was dented in again. The dragon swiped blinding but Ranma jumped forty five feet into the air, flipping over and slamming down breathing its spine.

Firo repeated her magic wind charge this time shoulder ramming the dragon as not to get her foot stuck. The force of her charge flipped the dragon over on its broken back where it thrashed around like a fish out of water.

Magic flared from the dragon and a cloud of poison exploded outward, once again Suu's power protected them from the affects. Ranma landed on the ground and began to chant again "I am the hero of the shield who commands the origin of power. I am the keeper of flame who rises to meet the blessed sun, now burst and disperse. Inferno." she put part of her ki into the spell as an experiment.

Before the flames had looked like normal flames, now it was a blinding white gold that seemed to feed off of the very aura of the dragon devouring its scales, skin and muscles. For a moment the bones seemed to hold together as if the force of the Zombie dragon's will.

A shadow seemed to writhe around Raphtalia twisting around her blade and body defying the light coming from the shield, for a brief moment her eyes turned completely black. "I am the sword of the void, who commands the origin of power. I am the one who strikes with the cleansing darkness of justice, Now show thy name, Restia!"

Darkness shrouded Raphtalia as she charged the bones of the dragon held together in proper shape tried to stand. She seemed headless of the fire as her entire body vanished in a blaze of darkness as she crashed into the final remnants for the dragon.

There was an explosion of darkness snuffing out the flame and washing over everyone. It was so strong that the glow shield's light vanished for a brief moment.

The light returned to the mountain and a silence fell upon the mountain, around them the miasma of the dragon began to fade. Where the dragon had been Raphtalia knelt as if exusted from the effort her part of her blade buried in the ground so she had something to lean on. Shadow, real shadow seemed to dance along the blade as she breathed slowly and deeply her hair hanging about her face.

In front of her what looked to be a single jet black gem about the size of a heart, Ranma approached Raphtalia as she felt Suu slip off her having no reason to say with the disbursement of the miasma. From Raphtalia and Firo's face the slime started falling off as She stooped sending power to it.

Ranma touched Suu's head "Thank you Suu that poison could have been a problem."

"Your welcome master"

"Firo did good to!" the bird said loudly.

Ranma laughed "Indeed you did" she said as Firo shoved her head under her other hand almost like a dog would.

Raphtalia unsteadily got to her feet looked at her blade in shock "Restia, your name is Restia." Nothing answered back and she sighed "Not talking, of course you're not."

"Are you all right"

She glanced at her "Yes" she said tiredly, a grin marked her face "Did you see me?"

"I don't think I could have missed you."

Slowly she sheathed her Katana "She told me her name" Raphtalia whispered "and...and power came from be saying it."

"What the hell is that blade?" Ranma whispered.

She bend over and picked up the gem and bit back a his from the cold necromantic presence at touching it. "What is that Master" Suu asked.

"I dont know, but it sort of feels like the dragon."

Raphtalia blinked "It might be the core of the Zombie, the bigger ones need an internal source to power them."

Ranma, Firo, and Suu stared at her "I read now" she reminded them "I did not stop just because I learned how."

"What do cores do?"

"Apparently they power the thing and unless you have way to stop it from healing the best way to destroy a zombie is to shatter the core."

Ranma sighed "That would have been really nice to know ten minutes ago "Sorry master I did not believe you when you thought the dragon would turn into one. According to the book I read a creature spontaneously becoming one even if it has the magic to do is is rare."

She shook her head "Its ok Raphtalia" she looked into the black core "I wonder if I could purify it."

"You're not going to absorb it master?"

"No not yet I don't know what would happen if I let the shield absorb something like this."

"Nothing I read about said anything about purification."

Ranma shrugged "I just want to try something with it before I let the shield eat it, now lets go back and tell them the news."

"Yes Master" they all thee said.

When the started walking Suu started lagging behind, in a single motion Ranma turned pick up the slime girl. The girls color flickered red "Suu just tell me if you are tired."

"mmm" she muttered.

"I'm serious Suu I care about you and I am supposed to take care you."

Raphtalia pulled out her cheeks at that statement "And you too." Ranma said exasperated.

"Then why don't you carry me" she whispered in a voice so quiet that she must have thought Ranma could not hear it.

Rolling her eyes, She shifted Suu to on arm and swept up Raphtalia with the other arm. "Waaa" she squealed face flushing.

Ranma laughed until she saw Firo eyeing them looking ready to jump on her "Please no" she asked

"Master hold Firo later?"

"Yes"

"Then Firo will wait."

"Thank you"

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Someone must have been watching for her coming back down because as the village came in sight people began to gather. No doubt they already knew the source of the plague was gone, the aura of the mountain had become less oppressive. Not a single demon attacked them on the way back in fact they had seen them fleeing as fast as they could fly/walk.

Eyes focused on the slime girl in her right arm as Suu had been in her invisible armored from when they had walked through her first. The crowd left a path open for her walk through most gawking at the slime girl she was holding. However the several men she had pegged as soldiers seemed not to care about that. One was holding a small statue and was looking from it to her and back again as if trying to confirm something.

The statue was of a women, one whose….one who looked a very similar. The thing was made out of clay and not by a professional. But it still held the air of something a person had spent a great deal of time and reverence on, strange.

"Is it dead" one asked

"Are we safe?" another asked.

"Yes to both accounts" Ranma replied "Now if you will pardon me I need to speak to someone"

"Yes of course" they said moving out of her way.

"Master they are looking at you funny" Suu said.

"It happens" Ranma answered unperturbed. "And besides they are looking at you strange too."

"That is because Suu is unique, Suu is one of a kind."

"I will not disagree on that."

Ranma glanced over "Raphtalia why are your eyes glazed?"

She blinked "What? Sorry I was not paying attention."

Ranma started chuckling "Never mind" She filed away the fact that holding the Beast Girl seemed to calm her down really well.

The treatment master was waiting for them, no doubt having been informed of her return by the populace he too was surprised by Suu's presence and also the fact that Ranma was holding an adult women in one arm without any visible effort.

"You..your won, I can't believe it"

Ranma shrugged "Really?"

The man nodded "Even getting close to the sources, well, anyone short of a hero should have been too weak to do anything."

"The fact that it was a zombie dragon made it a bit more annoying."

"...zombie?"

She nodded "Ya, freaking annoying."

"A...do you meant to tell me that you fought and beat a Dragon corpse that had been reanimated?"

"Truth be told I expected it, that's generally how my life goes"

The man started making noises as if he could not find what the right words to say, "Is Crassus awake?"

Dorn pointed to a door which led to a smaller room, Ranma nodded and went that way depositing Suu and Raphtalia on one of the benches.

She knocked and waited tell she heard "What?"

Opening the door she took her first good look at the man called Crassus, he had light blond hair trimmed into this world's equivalent of a buzz cut. The man was lean, like a runner from the look of his right and and the calluses on his hand he was an archer. He looked a little pale and his body needed some working out to return him to his pre sickness body.

The man gave her a frank look "May I help you?"

"I'm a friend of Captain Cyril"

That name got his attention "...I see...do you have any proof of that?"

Ranma reached into her pocket and pulled out a black stone with the runic marking one it."

Crassus looked at that and nodded "Ok, what do you want."

"I'm hunting the Cerberus of the Wave and I was hoping you could point me in the right direction."

The mans eyes darkened "That thing killed my friend if anyone one."

"My companion watched her parents torn apart by it so she has just a good a claim as you."

Crassus tried to stand but sank back to his bed "*Huff*Huff* damn it"

"I healed you but you still need time to recover."

The man sighed "I know"

He took in a breath "I Followed its trail up to here and it got sick with the plague and avoided this village. I thought that it would have been my perfect time to strike but, but I got sick with this damn stuff."

"Its around here" Ranma asked

"No It movement was slowed but not stopped, as far as know it is still headed in the direction of Silt Welt."

Ranma tilted her head "Silt Welt?"

"The country of Demi Humans that borders Melromarc the damn thing has been growing bigger and stronger. The only reason I think that it is moving that way is because it got sick here and wants to avoid a repeat."

"I see" Ranma held out a map "You know this thing better than most where do you think it will head."

Crassus stared at the map for several minutes in thought "If it keeps going down the path of least resistance, which is what it has been doing the whole time I think it would go here."

He marked a place on the map "Maps like these don't have any information about other countries but there is a the city of Areasth close to the border here. The only real road between Silt Welt and Melromarc goes through here."

"Won't it be well guarded"

Crassus looked away "Normally yes, a good portion of their army stays there but with the wave I will bet ten to one only a ghost garrison is there."

"Any reason the Cerberus would know that?"

"Common sense says no but monsters from the wave seem to have objectives, even ones with no real intelligence are well aimed so." he shrugged "I don't know but it would not surprise me if something sent it there."

Ranma nodded "I need to get going then, right the hell now."

Crassus tried to stand again but fell back "Damn it, I would be going with you."

"Get better" Ranma replied "Cyril did not say it but he was worried about you, and I personally think you are needed back there."

Crassus sighed "I see"

Ranma stood up turning to leave but paused for a moment "Do you know what a star next to your level means?"

"Oh that, It means you have to have a class up before you can level more."

Ranma stopped "How do you do that?"

"You have to get permission from the government and use the dragon hourglass."

"Shit" Ranma said.

"What?"

"The...government does not like me."

"Hmm, that sucks but if you manage to save Areasth you could just as the people of Silt Welt, Im sure that they would be glad to let you use it if you saved a city."

That was cheerful thought "I see, thank you."

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Ranma exited the room motioning with her head at Firo, Suu and Raphtalia "Come we have to move very far, very fast."

Firo literally jumped "Firo get to use cart?"

"Yes Firo get to use cart."

"Wait" Dron called out "You should be rewarded for"

"Don't need it" Ranma called out "I don't have time to stay, and besides this is what I do, I don't need a reward for it."

The village people had very little time to gather as Ranma dragged the cart into the street hitched it to Firo. Suu engulfed it and Raphtalia as well as buckling her to it.

They might have been trying to thank her or something but she really had no time for that "Let go" she called out.

Firo burst into motion and they shot off, they had very little time hopefully they could reach Areasth before the Cerberus did. Well if it was even headed that way, but in these cases Ranma was glad for the chaos that haunted her life. It would be way to easy not to find the monster there, therefore it was more than likely the Cerberus would be there. She was counting on it, people were in danger and as a Martial Artist she could not sit back and watch. Raphtalia had lost her parents to that thing, Crassus had lost a friend, how many others were there who had lost something to it.

Well it was for reasons like this she existed, existed for the one phrase "A Martial Artist protest the weak " And that was what Ranma would do.

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Well hope you enjoyed it and had a merry Christmas.

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	8. Chapter 8

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Here is chapter 8 hope you enjoy.

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It was the middle of the night when Firo had to stop, with time not on their side Ranma (now male) had let her run as long as she felt she could. They came to a stop and Firo, her entire body trembling with effort and exhaustion.

Touching her feathery head he whispered "Turn human"

With a last effort she transformed into her human form, nodding he unharnessed her and placed her in the wagon where she promptly passed out and Suu engulfed her.

With that done Ranma harnessed himself to the carriage and and after a moment to get used to took off at a pace that almost equaled Firo.

With his soul of ice training he could almost turn off his body's way of registering fatigue. So through the night he ran, at one point he noted several people who might have been bandits take one look at the man dragging a cart at forty miles of hours and decided that they had better shit to do.

It was sometime around mid morning when Ranma's body abruptly informed him that it need to stop and now. Raphtalia got out of the cart as Ranma went to his knees, the soul of ice no longer able to let him ignore his fatuage.

She set up camp along with Suu why Ranma and Firo were put down on the bed rolls where they simply slept. At some point Firo woke up and with her awakening Ranma was able to shake himself out of his slumber.

Of course his body did not want to follow his instructions to get, it still thought of the idea of sleep as heaven itself. "Master you should really rest" Raphtalia said.

That sounded really, really tempting ...but "Firo?" he asked

The girl smiled and shifted into her bird form "Ready Master"

Suu and Raphtalia packed up the camp themselves and told him to sit down on the wagon, he obeyed that order and waited. Once everything was packed and Raphtalia was blissfully engulfed by Suu as to ignore the motion sickness. Firo took off once again, with only a quick stop for food she once again ran herself to exhaustion. After which Ranma switched places and pulled the cart, with this pattern down pat they each lasted long enough to give the other a chance to rest.

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They arrived at the border to Silt Welt at sundown; it was an unassuming place a small post with several guards watching the road. They were not what one would call the cream of the crop, most could only sit up sputtering as Ranma dashed passed them wagon in toe. And none of them were in any position to stop them.

Three more miles of running and they arrived at Aresth, it was quite a comfortable city stone walls about fifteen feet high. The gate itself was well made from oak and steel, normally he had an eye for detail but right now he just wanted to find a bed.

As he approached the gate two guards came into sight, they were beastmen like Raphtalia with ears and a tail but both looked like they belonged to different animals groups. One had white features while the other had golden-ish ears and tail. The two were naturally gawking as they watched him, a human slow down to a stop as he reached the gate.

Ranma was grateful for the stop even if there were probably going to be annoying questions from these too.

"What do you want human" the golden one asked

"*huff*huff*wheeze* A bed"

"Well what's in the cart?"

"A demon bird, a Beastgirl, camping supplies and the last of our food."

*Blink* Blink* "Are you mocking me?"

Ranma just looked at him "Well if that's the case you don't mind if I search the cart"

Ranma had to shake his head to not fall asleep right there "Sure, I guess, Just dont scratch anything, Firo is protective over her cart."

"Are you drunk human?"

"...you would be able to smell it if I was."

"...point taken" the golden one said walking around back and taking a look. He was met by a wall of feathers "What the hell?" he said and poked it.

Firo let out an annoyed sound and turned sticking her long neck out and glaring at him.

"W-waht the fuck?" the guy shouted leaping back leveling his spear.

Two more guards showed up at that yell looking for a fight, Ranma turned his eyes to the golden guard "You point that thing somewhere else now!"

He meant it to sound threatening and it was but apparently he had transcended threatening and reached a level of near terror inducing. As the guard reacted as if Ranma had stabbed him, within seconds it looked like there was going to be fight. As the two new guards readied their weapons, "Enough!" A voice sounded.

A tall women appeared in sight, her armor was better than the others and a sword that bristled with magic at her side. Her hair was the color of flame with fox like ears and a tail brisling. Her armor had the symbol of a crown and lion emblazoned on her chest plate.

Ranma dropped his sudden readiness to fight, it was hard to keep his legs from trembling with fatigue. "What do you idiots think you are doing?"

There were no answers to that "You Radulf what was that about."

"There's a monster in the wagon captain" he stuttered out.

"I told you that" Ranma said "I told you I had a demon bird there."

The women looked from him to the wagon "Did you pull that here?"

"Ya its normally Firo's job but we were in a rush."

"And you pulled the wagon?"

"Yes"

There was a rustling in the wagon and Raphtalia climbed out of the wagon "Master what's going on."

The weapons were leveled instantly "You have a slave?!" the woman snarled

"Empty Fucking Night" Ranma sighed

"No!" she yelled stepping out in front of him "I am not a slave."

"She would say that" the golden one said "It could be a slave crest."

He moved forward the spear coming a bit too close for comfort there was a flash of black and the spear head shattered Raphtalia held her katana in a defensive stance "Touch him and I will kill you" She said in a low deadly voice.

The fox woman tilted her head looking at Raphtalia meeting her eyes an expression of understanding crossed her face. "I see, lower your weapons"

"But Sherufanir"

"Put you spear down" she said calmly.

The guards moved back and the women called Sherufanir approached hands palm up "You must understand this road leads to Melromarc." Her eyes went angry for a moment "They still practice slavery and you did call him master."

Raphtalia rolled her eyes as she put away her weapon "I call him that because it amuses me, and it is a mark of respect." She made sure her eyes were on Sherufanir "He saved me from slavery."

"Ok, ok i believe you but, we do have to make sure."

Raphtalia started growling "Master is exusted, we have covered over three hundred miles in a day and a half after fighting a giant monster please let us through."

Sherufanir pursed her lips "Barran!" she called out, a small boy who must have been thirteen at best scuttled out of the gate house "Yes miss?" He was cute in his own away with black hair that had raven like feathers mixed in it.

"Please scan her and see if there are any seals" the boy looked at Raphtalia and blushed as he muttered the spell. "No Mrs Sherufanir there is nothing, though that blade is brimming with magic."

The women frowned "Why did you come here so fast?"

That made Raphtalia hesitate and Ranma spoke up "Could be nothing but we got a tip that there might be a monster headed this way thought you could use a heads up if it actually is headed this way."

"What?" the silver haired dog like beastman asked.

Ranma nearly fell over "Master" Firo said as she got out of the cart, the guards were shocked that something as big as Firo could fit in the wagon. "Firo can pull the cart now"

"Its ok" he said tiredly "Were here, ahhh" and that was that as he fell forward and passed out.

* * *

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His growling stomach woke him up, and oh it felt so good to not feel tired. He said up blinking awake, he was in a stone room with about ten beds in it though no one else was in it. He blinked again and glanced at his skin, except Suu who was armoring him right now.

His clothing had been cleaned and neatly folded on a small chair beside the bed…. he pulled up the covers and glanced down "Really Suu?"

He heard her giggles in her head as she slipped off him and gave him a wink. "Not everything needs to be covered" he chastised her.

She just gave him another wink as he pulled on his clothing "Do they know about you?"

"No master Suu has stayed hidden; if master gets attacked I want to surprise them."

Ranma paused "You were protecting me while I slept?"

"Yes master."

He leaned over and kissed her "thank you"

The slime flickered scarlet in her cute way and suddenly engulfed him vanishing into her nearly invisible armored from. The door opened and the white haired guard entered "Ahh good your awake, Captain wants to speak with you, and she is offering breakfast."

"Breakfast? How long have I been asleep?"

"About a day"

"...show me the way please."

The guard led him to what looked to be the mess hall for the for the garrison, what he noticed right off the bat was the lack of people. It was a place built for hundreds but only about twenty were in sight.

It definitely looked like they might be understaffed but that could be because they might eat at different times. Perhaps he would have an army at his back if the Cerberus showed up? Nahh not a chance.

The table at the center was where Raphtalia and Firo(Human form) were sitting, next to them was Sherufanir with an array of food laid out before them. "Master" they both said.

Firo stood jumped and flew/glided over several surprised guards and wrapping her arms around him. "Firo's is sorry" she said.

"For what?" Ranma asked walking towards the head of the table.

"That Firo was not strong enough."

He gently flicked her on the forehead "None of that, I won't have it you did fine and I was glad to make sure you did not hurt yourself."

"Ara Ara Boy' Sherufanir said as he sat down still holding Firo "You must be strong as an ox to drag that wagon."

Ranma shrugged "Where am I?"

"After you collapsed I decided to bring you to the garrison, we have space right now and I was quite interested in that big monster you mentioned."

She glanced over at Raphtalia "You friend is very good at not telling me anything"

Raphtalia smiled "Master will tell you what you want to know."

Sherufanir sighed "You really should not call him that here, it makes a bad impression." She glanced at him "By the way is that shield cursed, it would not come off."

Said shield was currently in the glow shield from but it was not glowing right now as Ranma had turned it off. "You could say that" Ranma said after all from a certain point of view some people might believe it a curse.

She shook her head "Are any of you going to give me straight answers?"

"Sure, the reason I came here is because I received information that monster called the Cerberus of the Wave might be headed here." He moved his head towards Raphtalia "Her parents were killed by it and we want it gone."

"Where did this information come from?"

"A man who lost a friend to it and was tracking the thing until he fell ill"

The women stared at him as he grabbed several prices of bread and meat and ate them "You came here at a rate that looked like it was killing you for a chance that a monster might come this way?"

"Ya pretty much."

Sherufanir sighed "For our Sake I hope either you're wrong or this monster is small."

"You do look understaffed"

She pursued her lips as Ranma continued "With the waves going on I'll be willing to bet every country is understaffed."

The captain's eyes went from him to Raphtalia and seemed to come to a decision "Indeed our people are spread in such a way as we can react to waves as fast as possible."

"Makes sense"

"By the way your bird can turn into a girl."

Ranma nodded "I noticed" he said dryly.

"Do you have any Idea how?"

"About as much as an Idea as you do."

Sherufanir gave him a winning smile "You really don't have any Idea."

"I have long since stopped questioning weird thing that generally only makes it worse."

"You are quite a calm person I would think a human in a city of beastman would at least be somewhat on guard."

"I don't care about that a person's a person I judge them based on their actions." He smiled "And besides if someone tries to mess with me I can generally ignore it or if they endanger me I can deal with it."

"Considering how heavy that wagon was, I am inclined to believe you."

"Master is powerful" Firo put in.

"I get along fine" Ranma said.

"Your people are strange, are all humans from Melromarc as weird as you."

Raphtalia snorted at that "No I'm kind of unique" he clarified chuckling himself.

"Are you planning on staying here?"

"For a few days, one way or another the monster will show up or we will hear of it somewhere else and take off."

"...I see"

"Will that be a problem?"

Sherufanir was quiet for several moments "Officially there is nothing to stop you from doing what you want as long as it is within our laws. But with the current actions of your country and the fact that we have a fairly large community of freed slaves here who have real grievances against human's."

"*Sigh* the King has really fucked it up, He certainly does not help but the Queen has done nothing about our kind being enslaved either." She sighed "Of course we have some human slave trade so our moral high ground is really nonexistent."

Anger flared but faded in an instant as they both shared a tired look "So if you decide to stay just be careful and know you will be overcharged and watch out for thieves."

"Thank you"

"I not chasing you out yet please enjoy breakfast."

* * *

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Several hours later Ranma had rented a room in an inn near the walls "He had no doubt the had been viciously over charged but it was not that big of a deal. A day or two of rest sounded like a wonderful thing. Raphtalia and Firo were free to go exploring as they wished and Suu would have been too but she refused to leave him alone and was currently acting as his pillow.

The room had several beds so they could all stay in one room and had an area large enough that he could exercise enough to keep the edge off his pent up energy. Naps were also great, and so long as he kept to himself the people who owned the Inn were happy to leave him alone.

Raphtalia and Firo returned around noon, Firo looked happy and perky while Raphtalia looked somewhat annoyed.

"Have fun?" he asked.

Raphtalia eyes flickered from him to Suu who was giving him her version of a lap pillow "A lot of men hit on me" she said after a beat she added "It was annoying"

She walked over to his bed and gave Suu a look "My turn" she said.

The slime laughed and gently lifted Ranma's head off her and let Raphtalia take her place giving Ranma a lap pillow. He could actually feel her tension and annoyance fade away as she did this.

"Firo got lots of food" she informed him "Firo played a game a tag with five men," she paused "They could not catch Firo"

Ranma took a deep breath "I see…" No reason to suspect the worst, perhaps they really were playing a game of tag. "Then after the game one of them grabbed Firo's butt.. So I kicked him through a wall"

"...thats my girl" Ranma said after a moment.

He glanced around Its only the afternoon are ya'll planning on staying here all day?"

Raphtalia's answer was a soft kiss on his forehead "I can't think of a better place to be Master"

His heart seemed to skip a beat as a warm feeling spread through him "Thank you"

"Firo is staying too" the girl informed him.

"Then thank you too Firo" *Hmff* she sniffed "Firo will give you a lap pillow to."

He looked at her with her child like body "Great" he whispered "Just Great Ranma the Cradle Robber"

Raphtalia laughed at that and after a moment he decided to laugh too better that than going insane.

He looked around "Where's Suu?"

To make a long story short Ranma would later hear of a tentacle monster in the sewers but that was a story Suu would never share with him. The night passed and he found himself waking before dawn.

Something was in the air he could feel it, gently he got out of bed as not to wake the others and stepped out onto a small balcony. Apparently he was not the only one as Raphtalia was standing her eyes facing the city walls.

"Do you feel that master" she said as he stood next to her.

"Ya, nothing anyone can explain just a sense that something is coming." Ranma looked towards the south "What does it feel like to you?"

"Pardon Master?"

"For me the feeling is like there is a tightness in the world like creation is holding its breath."

Raphtalia gave him a thoughtful look "It's like a smell that I just can't make out."

"...How are you?"

She shivered "Terrified"

Ranma opened his mouth to speak but shut it as she continued "That...that thing I'm scared, scared I'll freeze up that when I see it ill just be a small little girl again."

"I don't believe that for a second" Ranma said in an equally quiet tone "I told you once that I had my own fear, so far I have been lucky that it has never been an issue but it one day could be. That fear makes a coward before it then monster if it goes far enough. I still have not overcome it, but I have seen you do so. Back at that cave, you fought through your fear you are strong."

"Do I think you will be afraid when it comes yes, do I think you will freeze up." he smiled "Not a change."

Her look became positively vulnerable "Master" she whispered.

He gently pulled her into a hug "We will fight, and we will win there is nothing more to it."

There was a pause for a beat before she said "Yes master"

The let go and he touched her cheek gently "That my girl."

Her face flushed a little and she cupped the hand touching her cheek gently, "Master, you mentioned this fear before will you tell me what it is."

Did he trust her enough for that...hell yes.

"My teacher as a child the one who taught me martial arts was not what you could call a good man. No as a point of fact he was a lazy, lying, shortcut taking, marriage arranging asshole. And he was also my dad, before I tell you this story I want you to know I don't think of him as maliciously evil. I like to think of it as a lazy sort of evil that does not plan ahead or think through consequences."

"So he was a complete idiot?"

"No idiot implies that he would not have understood what he was doing. No my dad could have understood it he was just too lazy."

"But to make a long story short when I was six my dad came across a book that promised a ritual that would grant the one it was used upon great power. Naturally he read how to do and threw the book away rather than look on the last page that said anyone who uses this ritual is and either an idiot or an evil bastard."

Ranma frowned "Which makes one wonder why the person who made that book made it in the first place, but anyway moving on the ritual involves getting a pit and filling it with cats, starving them until they are ravenous. Then wrapping the child in fish sausage tying them up and lowering them into the pit."

The expression of horror on Raphtalia appeared told him that she realized that that meant, "I don't remember much from the pit, just darkness, pain and glowing eyes." It was an effort of will not shiver in old terror.

"Now what most people think happens with the NekoKen as this ritual is called, is that it imposes a psychosis on the person based on fear. This they think creates a state of mind where the user becomes stronger, faster, more powerful at the cost of intelligence."

"As I found out coming here and reading the full status on it, what actually happens is that the Ritual is designed to call upon bestial cat sprits who have strong motherly instincts. They come to the child in pain and enter them in order to protect them. At this point the child is mindless in terror and pain so there is very fetal ground for possession. Thankfully that spirit only takes over when the fear of cats the ritual imposes completely impairs my functioning."

If anyone in his old world save Kasumi had given him the look of pity that Raphtalia had in her eyes it would have angered him. But from this girl it was fine, it felt...warm."

"Now ya know" he told her.

"Thank you Ranma."

"I like it when you use my name."

She smiled "That is why I save it for special occasions, it means more."

The turned back to the walls "When do you think it will come?" Ranma asked.

"Noon" she said with certainly her hand touching her black katana, her voice changed resembling the sword "In defiance of the light of day which drives back the darkness it will come."

The girl blinked shaking her head hard " I hate when you do that Resita"

Her head tilted "It not funny"

"Your sword is talking to you now?"

"Yes all the time after I learned her name, it gets boring being inside Suu for hours on end."

"Cool" after a second he said "it can control you?"

"It can speak through me but that is it. It costs her energy to speak to everyone but as her wielder it does not take any to talk to me."

"Do you know what she is?"

"All she has told me is that she is the sword of the void, nothing more."

Ranma nodded "That's a start even if information on Katana is non existence outside of the east."

Raphtalia tilted her head "She says we should sleep while we can."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Master?"

"Yes?"

Raphtalia leaned over and kissed him on the lips "Thank you"

She turned and quickly walked away to her bed leaving him there with a stupid smile on his face.

* * *

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Noon found them leaning against the gate house, no matter what direction the Cerberus could come from there was a good chance that someone would see it and come to bring news. Ranma and Raphtalia were sitting in lotus positions beside nervous guards. Firo was prancing around with Suu hidden in her feathers her pent up energy about to explode.

The guard captain was there too, apperly someone had told her they were hanging around the gate and she wanted to find out why. "You people really are making us nervous" she was saying.

Ranma held up a hand pointing forward, a beast man with the look of a farmer was riding bareback on a horse. Said horse was going full speed towards the city as he got closer it his pale face drawn in terror was easy to see.

As he pulled up and nearly fell off his horse Ranma, Raphtalia, and Firo readied themselves "Is coming" the man said in terror.

Sherufanir was the picture of serenity "Boy" she said calmly "What's coming"

The man's breathing quickened "A...A huge demon, you have to get everyone out."

A howl like that of a wolf rang through the air "No" the beastman cried "No no no."

Ranma walked up to him "How big is it."

"B-bigger than house"

"Raphtalia?"

She shook her head "It was not that big when I saw it but monsters grow stronger over time too."

"And It's a demon of the wave" Ranma said

"It's from the wave!" Sherufanir shouted "Why the hell didn't you say that earlier."

*Blink*Blink*"Shit" Ranma berated himself.

"If I would have known you were talking about a wave threat"

Shadows covered them and Ranma looked up to see crows wheeling in the sky as if in expectation of a battle they could feast one. There were thousands of them circling in a vast wheel of motion.

"No, no,no" the farmer whimpered.

"Oh Void" the captain snarled "Everyone in the gates"

The guards hastened to follow orders half dragging the petrified farmer, Ranma, Raphtalia, Firo and Suu stayed put. "The hell are you people doing, get in the gate!"

Ranma straightened and began to walk forward, the shield on his arm changing to the stone hide "I will not let it reach the City, Mrs Sherufanir you have my word on that."

The woman stared at his shield then at him her eyes wide with shock "You, that shield, what?"

"I am Ranma Saotome Hero of the Shield"

Her reaction would not have been stronger if he had slapped her "The Shield Hero" she whispered.

The Cerberus appeared dust being kicked up by its massive body, Ranma had once seen a picture of what Disney had called a Cerberus about the only thing they got right was the size and three heads.

The dog demon's chest was thick with fur and muscle each head having rows of razor sharp teeth and beady red eyes. Its fur was urine yellow and streaked by dirt, blood, and filth. Its legs were thick as tree trunks to support its massive frame and its claws flashed in the mix of shadow and sunlight.

Dark bone like plates lined its spine, its neck, and underbelly. Atop each of the three heads similar bone plates lined the skulls and muzzle. Red liquid that bore a resemblance to napalm dripped from the mouth of one, black flame seethed in between the teeth of the other. The middle heads breath came out in clouds of black steam. The thing radiated an internal heat that caused the air around it to shimmer.

Raphtaliadrew in a breath and steadied herself "Wild guess" he said to all of them including the captain who was still gawking in shock. "Each of those mouths fires something best to avoid it, "Suu I want to separate from me this fight work with the others to attack its weak spots."

"Yes Master" the slime said poking her head out from Firo's feathers causing Sherufanir to do another double take.

"You all know what to do so let's get started, no one attack until I have its undivided attention if it focuses you, you run until I can get it focused on me again."

He took a final cleansing breath opened his eyes and charged the demon of wave, ground shattered under the strength of his legs pushing against dirt, Firo, and Raphtalia split running in a curved line, tilting so that when they reached the monster its sides would be open to them.

The Cerberus saw him coming, and all three heads let out a roar of challenge, each head able to make a unique and horrible sound that added up to the audio equivalent to stench of rotting meat only for the ears. It must have been some sort of ability to strike fear or terror, but against the hero of the shield that mattered very little.

The distance closed with every heartbeat, closer and closer until the rightmost head unleashed a torrent of black flame. With the Stone hide in front of him Ranma dove through it ignoring the heat as the power of the shield reduced the damage to inconsequential. His flying straight jab backed by the full force of his supernatural strength shattered a bone plate across the Cerberus chest. There was a shock wave as Ranma's strike stopped the demon dead in its tracks one had let out a choked whimper.

The leftmost opened its mouth and spewed a red liquid that ranma barely avoided, he noted that it was some sort of acid as it ate away the ground on which it fell.

The middle mouth looked ready to unleash its attack the moment in which he was in flight, but that was when the rest of Ranma's party showed. Firo reached it first naturally and merely dashed under it focusing on dodge the legs of the creature. Suu riding astride its back raised a mass of Slime that had been shaped like a giant butcher knife blade and honed to razor sharpness by water pressure. While Firo dashed under it Suu opened a long gash across its underside. The bone plating there protected anything vialt but it must have stung like a mother because all three head hissed and snarled as it whirled to face the new attacker.

"Hey dumbass!" Ranma called hurling a ball of ki that exposed in the the Right most's eye destroying it with the force. "Over here"

The head he had hit howled in agony while the other to head snapped at him as the enraged create attacked. Avoiding one and bating the other aside with the Stone Hide Ranma had its full attention. Fists blurred as he launched hundreds of strikes, now whenever this creature was he noted that in some ways it felt similar to the diamond dog. Its body took the his blows and did not break though it did get pushed back. Even without its bone plate the things skin was dispersing the power of his punches better than it should have.

He felt it then, something he probably would have noted instinctually as a girl this thing was boiling with magic. It was drawing it from something, a ley line perhaps? No that did not make sense.

He refocused his mind as a burst for mist from the third mouth engulfed him, he held up his shield in time and blocked it but a status symbol popped up "The Stone Hide now has the Brittle status"

According to the help menu that meant another good hit on it and the thing would shatter, which was not a good thing. He switched to the Crystal Shield which had a higher magic resistance, to his relief it did not have the brittle status.

The heated mist billowed towards him but he was ready this time jumping over the head and landing on it. Bending he shoved his fingers in both eyes and ripped. The howl that erupted should have shattered his eardrums asunder. The thing bucked so hard it flung him eighty feet into the air. The leftmost head twisted up and unleashed a torrent of acid "Air Shield" he snarled hardening the air ten feet under him.

The acid broke it on contact but it blunted the force causing the liquid to fall back on the Cerberus, a horrid stench of burning flesh reached him as apparently whatever allowed the demon to keep the acid inside of it did not protect the rest of its body.

Firo appeared at its side running full speed the wind bending around her giving her strength, speed, and power. Suu astride her back had her arm shaped and lengthened into a lance like shape.

The Cerberus did not seem them coming and when they hit the thing its body bowed outward as the force threw it from its feet a hole the size of a man hole punched in its side. It rolled like a dog but Raphtalia was there to meet it dashing forward running over it as if she would a tumbling log, her Katana trailing down as she allowed the Cerberus, centrifugal force to open a wound larger than she could have made on her own.

Power, pure, raw, dark power suddenly shrouded the creature, at that moment Ranma returned from his impromptu flight. His fist crashed against the dark barrier. There was the sound similar to a broken horn as the dark power blocked his attack.

A howl of triumph erupted from the Cerberus as Firo, Suu, and Raphtalia attacked and were blown back by the dark barrier. A scorching blast of heated mist was shot at Firo but she dodged it if only just.

Ranma who had been sent tumbling end over end managed to get back to his feet, the shield morphed into Diamond Shard shield. Raphtalia was on it again her slash also blunted by the dark shield. But where she struck a mark of blackness darker than the barrier remained.

The Cerberus turned to focus its attention upon them just as Ranma focused Ki through his shield "RailGun" he snarled as and explosive beam of white light with a diamond shard at its head blasted out. There was a sound like screaming from the barrier as the attack managed to pierce it but only enough to bury itself a foot into its flesh. Given how much skin and muscle normal dogs had and given its relive size it was a safe bet that he in inflicted something akin to a harsh bee sting.

It did however get the dogs attention, its rightmost head whirled and even as it did so Ranma was already chanting "I am the hero of the shield who command the origin of power, I have read and deciphered the laws of nature, I who take on the spirit of the fire defy the heat of flame. Flame Guard"

Before the torrent of flame hit the shield he had called up he was chanting again "I am the hero of the Shield who commands the origin of power, I have read and deciphered the laws of nature." About this time the flames splashed into the shield he had called up and whatever got through was not enough to deal damage. "Now flail in the embrace of wind, Zephyr, Wind squall" Air shot out from his outstretched arm "Air shield" he called out hardening the air before him. Acid that had been on the heels of the fire was first blunted by the gust of wind then stopped completely by air shield Skill.

Firo and Suu stuck the Cerberus again but the barrier deflected the attack, Raphtalia attacked again having circled around the monster and slashing across the place she had slashed before forming and X of darkness. Since it did not damage the Cerberus did not notice, she took off after Firo who slowed frantically talking to the creature.

Ranma weaved among snapping heads and swiping paws, it had tried to mist him again but since he now knew the danger of it he had taken extra pains to avoid it. The cost of that had been it had gotten a good bite on his shield arm. His defense meant that it only broke skin and not crushed bone but this creature could hurt him that was abundantly clear. The dark barrier proved quite resilient to his attacks.

The Shard attack recharged and he leapt back, the moment he was airborne the right head opened his mouth to unleash more flame. Ranma had been waiting for that aiming the shield he fired his "RailGun" again. Just like he had hoped the barrier did not cover the open mouth, the white beam of light pierced the roof of said mouth driving right through that one's brain. The head abruptly slumped lifelessly and the other two head howled in pain. Twin torrents of mist and acid forced him in close, the monster was getting better. Its two remaining heads were getting closer and closer to scoring hits and several times he was forced to block its paw swipes directly. They did not hurt in terms of damage but the sheer force of the blow made it annoying.

However he was keeping its attention, Firo, Raphtalia and Suu had been preparing at attack during these moments both Suu and the Tanuki where astrid Firo who had streamers of wind flowing around her as she gained speed. Suu had her lance arm ready but she has set herself differently only her torso and arms were humanoid they rest of her had engulfed Firo letting the slime brace herself for a stronger attack. Raphtalia was standing up straight sword ready, Suu was also cementing the girl's feet and legs to Firo which allowed her to perform this physics defying stunt

They aimed for the X Raphtalia had created with her previous attacks, shadows danced along the katana lengthening until she was holding a five foot length of shadow. Their aim was true both Suu and Raphtalia struck in the same spot. They did not need to add power to the strike Firo's speed was doing that for them.

Both attacks pierced the barrier with the sound of tearing metal, the two head of the Cerberus howled its body thrashing wildly. Firo dashed under it again and the demon abruptly dropped in an attempt to crush them. Ranma reacted instantly "Crystal Wall" he shouted as green crystals shot up from the earth. He channeled his ki into them and for the briefest moment they held against the demons weight. Firo was out from under it a second ahead of the body, its acid head made as if to spit acid after them but Ranma unleashed his shield prison around its head effectively muzzling it just long enough that Firo got out of range.

They had done well but even as he watched the barrier healed itself where they had broken it, and the flame head was beginning to twitch again on its own. The diamond shard fell out of its listless mouth and the twitching intensified.

He needed to change this fight now, he needed to get rid of the barrier, he set himself while the dog was distracted and leapt flipping over the snapping middle head.

He found himself standing on this things back and it was not paying attention to him as his companions were beginning their turn to attack again. And after all the barrier had blocked him before, he raised his fist taking a moment to focus his ki and every ounce of his strength into a single attack so far nothing had been able to stand up to his full strength yet so time to see it that still held true.. "Haaa!" he screamed and slammed his fist down.

There was a horrendous crack, the very earth below them splintered and shattered as a wave of pure force like the shockwave of a bomb sent Ranma's competitions tumbling. The dark shield vaporized along with a good portion of the Cerberus's side.

This time there was no howl of defiance or snarl of pain, balls of light chained to threads of darkness erupted from the hole in the creature. Pain assaulted Ranma's head as the sense of hundreds of ki's slammed into him. And it hurt, oh it hurt to feel the enchained lives of women children, men crying out for help.

With hands around his head he could not focus long enough to keep his balance, he tumbled off hitting the ground desperately pulling his senses into himself. A force hit him as the Cerberus stomped on him several times.

He felt it then, the magic tearing at his mind drawing power from the terror of hundreds of victims and forcing that pain on him. Desperately he chanted "I am the hero the shield who commands the origin of power, let the the flames of emotion erase the darkness of Illusion."

His entire body heated and there was a sense shadow inside his head being destroyed, His eyes opened in time to see three things. Nearly half of the motes of life were destroyed and the pieces of them were turned into healing magic.

Five hundred Ki's vanished as the creature devoured them to heal itself, all the damage they had caused vanished. The second thing he noted was the thing shrink by a quarter, the final thing he noted as its jaws closing around him, they tossed him up in the air and then crunched down on him. Had this happened before it shrank it might have pierced his flesh but as it stood this thing could do little damage him.

Rage, Anger, he understood now. He understood how this thing got so strong, every life it had killed, it had absorbed. Trapping the souls of its victims to draw power from them.

This thing, this monster, it had to die. The middle head which was chewing on him simply exploded pieces flying everywhere. Ranma landed before it and anyone could see the change in him, the area around him began to freeze. Frost poured from the Shield hero's breath, as wave's of cold flared out in waves.

He stared down the monster before him with the gaze lacking all emotion as the soul of ice shrouded his mind and spirit. His shield changed to the Sword Horn as the Cerberus spewed acid at him. His movements were precise and necessary a leap with just enough force to take him over the acid. So far this thing had not fired more than one of its blasts at a time so his risk was minimal. He ignored the acid mouth and struck the Mist head his shield piercing armor, skin and brain alike.

Firo and Suu came back into the fray now, Suu leaping off of Firo spinning as her tentacle became razor edged with water pressure. She tore into its side with lazy ease the lower half of her body sticking to the monsters as she wreaked havoc upon it. Firo aimed her kick naturally well as she did a perfect nut shot kick with the power to break stone. The Cerberus, one remaining head howled in agony only at a much higher pitch than before.

The wisps of light shot out again the blazing life energy of those it had murdered forced to heal the thing that had eaten them.

Ranma made a simple pulling motion with his hand, the souls of the monster's victims were blazing hot in their ki. Soul of Ice, the power to freeze one emotions, ones ki in order to turn the blazing battle lust of your enemy into its greatest weaklings.

Like a black hole a vortex of wind began to from, the souls froze for a second and began to pull away with the vortex. The chains of dark magic began to turn blue and brittle, then there was a cacophony of squealing metal as the chains shattered. The souls flew free and were sucked into a spinning motion around the Shield Hero.

The cerberus shrank again, Firo and Suu leaping back to reassess, now the creature was the size of the demon dogs he and Raphtalia had fought in the cave. Speaking of Raphtalia.

The girl walked slowly up to the weakened creature, its only working head saw this and its body tried to turn. Raphtalia threw her katana, it spun end over end and landed on the ground. To be specific it landed right in the dogs shadow, the Katana sank halfway into it and the dog froze as if being held in place.

If he had been feeling emotion right now he would have been shocked and elated at the same time, as it was right now within the soul of ice he felt only calm surprise. He dare not release the soul of ice lest the hundreds of souls swirling around him somehow be yanked back to the monster.

With a calm almost deliberate slowness she approached it, the thing strained in fear trying to move, to run but without its victims to draw upon it was too weak to do so. Raphtalia stopped inches away from its remaining head staring at it her eyes blazing. She gripped Restia drawing the Katana out of the shadow. Before the monster could move she cut off its two front legs in a blinding fast slash. Its remaining head spit acid at her as her hilt smashed into the side of its jaw breaking it knocking the head away from her and causing the Cerberus to cover its own face in acid.

It lay there rolling and howling as she watched it, her blade rose "I am the sword of the void, who commands the origin of power. I am the one who strikes with the cleansing darkness of justice, show the world thy name, Restia!"

Darkness flared along the blade like fire dimming the land around them, with a two handed overhead swing she brought it down. Unlike before against the dragon the attack was sharp, controlled, concentrated. It looked like a razor thin wall of shadow divided the dog for the briefest moment.

Both monster and girl held their place for a moment, then in a single motion she sheathed the katana. At the clack of hilt hitting scabbard the two halves of the Cerberus of the Wave fell to either side, it was over.

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The monster was dead, the battle was over. Ranma released the soul of ice in burst of cold wind, the souls of the dead glowed brightly.

Requirements for Shield of Requiem have been unsealed:

Shield of Requiem

Magic Defense: High

True Power Unsealed: Requiem of Souls (Weakened Undead, Suppresses Necromancy) Active Aura Effect, use of other abilities cancels the effect.

Special Ability: Second Sight (A wrath or ghost ability that allows the user to see magic and spirits. This sight gives the user information on said phenomenon, second sight limits the users vision to thirty feet. However when that range even illusion has no power over vision.)

After he noted that the souls shot skyward vanishing in bursts of light, all save for two which hovered around Raphtalia. Second sight activated and Ranma saw what must have been her parents standing to either side of her. Raphtalia could not see them but they were speaking in her ear and he guessed she might be able to hear them faintly. The two turned to him then, the dad looked him up and down as if assessing him. The man gave him a simple nod while the women a warm smile, then like the others they were gone in flashes of light.

Firo and Suu joined him though they seemed to sense the solemn mood, there were tears streaming down Raphtalia's face. "I" she said "I.. i need to be alone" She turned and dashed off before she could completely break down. Firo moved as if to follow her but Ranma held up a hand as he shook off Second Sight "Let her grieve" he said.

Firo danced around nervously her wings fluttering in distress, but in the end she listened to him.

He gathered the remains of the demon and absorbed them into the shield it took nearly everything before the shield was unsealed.

Requirements for the Shield of Cerberus unsealed.

Form 1: Shield of Black Fire

Special effect: Flame Immunity

Form 2: Dark Venom Shield

Special Effect: Dark Venom (A highly poisonous acidic liquid that confers the brittle status on items.)

It seemed with this one that if someone attacked the shield it would get the dark venom on it, that was kind of cool.

Form 3: Dark Over Boost Shield

Special Effect: Grants the user increased physical abilities at the cost of awaking their predatory nature. Warning can cause mental trauma and loss of control if overused."

This was interesting a shield with multiple forms but no slot for true power or any equipment bonus nor did it have any skill point bar. Hmm?

"Master" Suu said.

He turned to see the gates swing open as a mob of beast men and women burst out of the city coming straight for them. "Uh" was all he could say before a thousand throats from pale skinned white ears to dark furred black eyes erupted in a joyous howl that set the puddles of black Ichor around them to vibrating.

Normally when a crowd of screaming people rushed him it meant something bad but he got no sense of that now. That was when the crowd engulfed him a hundred hands hoisting him up as they roared "Shield! Shield! Shield!"

Decide him Firo lay looking confused and very agitated as the crowd picked her up too, he could not say that he was calm himself as the mob of beastmen turned and carried him back to the city.

It took an hour for them to let him down, the people must have carried him everywhere, people hung out of windows climbed onto roofs to see him. His questions were only met with joyous cries of "Shield! Shield!".

At some point people began tossing food at him while at other times he found a drink shoved into his hands. Firo was following them from a distance having transformed into her human guise and used to wings to fly after them.

At last they set him down in front of a large building, a suspiciously church looking building with steeples and stained glass windows and everything. He turned around "Ok will someone tell me"

They drowned out his statement with more noise "Shield!, Shield!"

"Yes yes I know" he yelled but no one heard.

Behind him there was the sound of doors opening and the blaring of horns, silence abruptly filled the courtyard. Ranma turned the first thing he noticed was something he should have been rather ashamed to focus on first. But the question don't those hurt your back? Came to mind.

If you needed to guess she was rather stacked, much more so than Ranma's own girl form who was fairly gifted herself. He forced his gaze away and took in the rest of her, she was wearing what he could only describe as an authentic Miko outfit a white haori, red hakama and everything. Her hair was dark black that hung down her back all the way to her waist. Her features had were almost regal with violet intense eyes with ruby lips. He could sense magic around this girl, powerful magic the air around her vibrated with her aura. Her left hand had a ridge of calluses long her thumb palm and forefinger the tips of her right middle and forefinger had the same sort of marks.

Archer he decided it was the only thing that fit with how her hand were, the girl noted his intense gaze and a low smile curled its way along her face. She walked forward and he noted that she was several inches taller than him, her tabi clicked along the stone ground with metric inevitably.

She was a foot away from him when she stopped, looking him up and down eyes focused on the shield for a moment. "Are you the shield hero?" she asked.

He debated the merit of saying no but he had already revealed himself so "Yes I am"

"I see" she said.

Then in a single motion she leapt fifteen feet back, two children who had the look of attendants ran up to her with a bow of yellow wood and a single black feathered arrow.

"Um did I miss something?" Ranma asked.

"It is merely the test the last shield hero put forth for all who came after."

"Wait, wait, wait what test?"

She drew the bow back and fired, Ranma caught it an inch before it hit him right between the eyes. "What the fu" he started to say as electricity exploded from the arrow, engulfing him but doing no harm.

With a smooth motion she gave the bow back to the attendants "It is as you Shield hero" She knelt in a smooth motion "All Hail" she said.

"Hail Shield Hero" the crowd behind him roared as the all dropped to on knee.

Firo appeared in Ranma's Vision landing in front of him arms spread face angry, Suu writhed around her but did not take form yet. "How Dare you" she roared.

The Miko did not move "If it is your wish you may take vengeance on me, all that I am is yours to take and do with as you please."

Ranma hand came down on Firo "It's alright, no one need to get hurt or take anything from you."

He looked around "What the hell is going on, no one will tell me."

She blinked in surprise "I...see you had no idea then."

"Please stop kneeling its really making me uncomfortable."

Another blink "As you wish"

She stood "Anything you want to know you have only to ask," She motioned "Please come"

Ranma looked at the roaring crowd behind him and the relatively quite temple "Let's go where I can hear first." he said.

"As you wish" she said and motioned him "Follow me"

He took Firo's hand and did so, Firo did not look happy at all glaring at the Miko with suspicion. Behind them the doors closed by themselves, she made a shooing motion to the children attendants, they gave Ranma shy smiles before disappearing through a side door in the temple.

One one side of the temple was a statue of an imposing man, tall buff and armored. On his right arm was a Kite Shield it was placed in front of a small beastman child curled up behind it. In the front of the temple was an altar inlaid with silver runes. The Miko lead him to the left where they entered another door. A short walk down a hallway and they came to a room, it as a comfortably large place, a table and chairs on one side, a fireplace in the middle, and a bed on the other.

"This is where I live" she clarified before Ranma could ask "Please make yourself at home Shield Hero."

"Its Ranma" he said "Call me Ranma"

Another one of those sensual grins appeared on her face "Only if you call me by my name, most people call me priestess and it gets old."

"Well, what is your name?"

"Akeno, Akeno Datenshi"

"Ok Akeno, you said you would answer my questions so here they are." he pointed outside "What the fuck?" he pointed to her "What the Fuck" he pointed to between his eyes "What the Fuck?"

"I assume that in your world that last word had special meaning?"

"Several now talk."

She laughed and he noted that her expression was softer now, her body less rigid, there was not showmanship that he had seen when they were standing in front of that crowd. "Men are so impatient" she crossed her arms under her chest and that did interesting things to her...assets.

Firo saw him looking and kicked him in the shin "Master" she scolded him.

He did not hop on one leg but he did want to, even in human from that kick hurt "Since you seem confused should I assume you know nothing?"

"That would be a very wise assumption"

"I see," she made a sweeping gesture "This is a temple to God and his saint the Shield Hero protector of the Beast men."

"That..Explains alot actually" he paused looking at her again "Are you human?"

She shook her head "No I am not."

"You don't look like a beastmen."

She hesitated "I am not one of them either," Before he could ask the next question she said "I is well within your right to ask me what I am. I would answer truthfully for I would have no choice but I would prefer not to discuss it."

Ranma nodded "Ok I won't ask then, so what about the arrow?"

"It was an old relic given to the first priestess of the temple many ages ok. It holds within it a spell that will burn all save a hero of the sacred weapons. It was left to that imposters could not use that position in the hearts of the people."

"I can see that making sense"

Firo still standing between them stomped her foot "Firo does not care, if you ever attack master again Firo will make you pay."

Akeno's eyes sparkled "I have no doubt little one, rest assured now that I know this is the true hero I will not and cannot raise a hand against."

"Cannot?"

"Yes, if you were to say take me right here, right now I could not resist." her eyes flickered up and down his body "Not that I would mind" she said in a sultry voice.

Ranma shivered "That does not explain why not" he looked away from her embarrassed. Seeing a woman who he had no compunction based on age looking this good was causing his hormones to suggest things. With Raphtalia there was always that nagging sense that she had only been on this world ten years. It was starting to go away and he did not know if he should worried about that or pleased.

Firo looked ready to attack her at that moment her growl was more like her demon from that that of a human. Akeno however did not seem to care "When I took up this position there were several vow's made, one of which was the vow to never go against you whether it be combat or otherwise."

"That's utterly terrifying"

"Why do you think so, it was what the last shield hero demanded for this position"

"He sounds like an asshole."

"Pardon?!"

"Um...he sounded like a...a...um...not the kind of person I would like to know."

She tilted her head "Legend says he was betrayed at one point in his life and it affected his actions afterwards."

Ranma rolled his eyes "I've been betrayed before and I never felt the desire to take people's freedom away."

The girl looked uncertain for the first time, he had no doubt that if anyone else had been saying this she would be all over them with words and stories. "From what I understand it was not so much the taking freedom away as it was the making sure they could never act against him."

"...that's the same damn thing, if I am in the wrong I hope that the people I know will stand against me."

"Oh" she said looking even more confused.

"My next question is" he pointed out back at where the crowd was "What they were doing seemed a little much even for a hero."

The Miko looked relieved that they had strayed back into a more comfortable topic "Not just a hero, The Hero, our saint and protector. You must understand, a monster of dark and terrible power, a creature of the wave shows up when we are at our weakest, then out of a no where our hero appears to save us. We knew the shield hero had been summoned but I would guess our messages to you never reached. From what I understand you were always on the move to fast to keep up with. But here, now you appear and wipe out a creature of darkness. You are not so much a hero right now as a god made flesh."

Those words sent icy pricks up his spine, oh hell, oh no, the chaos in his life was no small joke, what would happen to him if he was treated as a god? With anything good in his life there was always a balance of chaos. And what was more he had no desire to be treated as such in the first place, he knew himself well enough that eventually the power would go to his head. He was not a perfect person by any means; he could be crude, violet, prone to impulse decisions. He was not a god, he was not even close. Well the best thing he could do was ignore it for now and get out of this city as fast as possible. Granted he still had to figure out how to get the wagon out of the barracks but he would find some way to manage.

He stared at this girl before him, perhaps she could help "Ok, so I need a different set of answers."

"Of course"

"Where is the Dragon Hourglass of this country?"

"It is in the capital city of Cita a week and a half's journey from here on wagon."

Ranma opened his status screen, holy hell his stats were high now even compared to what he had when he got here. "Twenty days tell the wave" he muttered "and with Firo's speed it will take four days at most to get there."

"I have two companions who need a class up do you think they would let them use it?"

"...you are the incarnation of the saint protector of this nation what do you think?"

He pointed at her "That is more like it; I am much more comfortable with dry sarcasm."

He ran some numbers in his head "That sounds good, ok next question can you sneak me to the guard barracks?"

"...If that is your wish but may I ask why?"

He debated several answers and decided that the truth would be the best, he was a terrible liar in most situations "Hero worship makes me very uncomfortable and I need to be moving as fast as possible. With the wave coming I need my companions as strong as they possibly can be."

"...I see...have we... disappointed you in any way?"

He blinked "What? no of course not this is just me being me."

Akeno turned away from him and paced as if in thought "Since you are all about freedom may I set a condition?"

"As long as it's not a marriage arrangement I'm flexible."

Her giggle was like the rest of her sexy, sultry and real "Take me with you, as a companion."

That he had not been expecting "Uh...why?"

"You needn't worry about my power I am a lv Sixty Seven Magick Archer and I have experience fighting the wave."

"Not what I was talking about."

"Oh" she gestured around her "You mean this?" She shook her head "I serve the shield hero not the people. In times where there is no hero I do take up the role of a normal priestess. However this position requires combat training for this very instance. Even If you do not take me on as a normal companion I will follow you from afar and support you as best I can."

"Well when you put it that way I'd be an asshole to say no."

"There's that word again what does it mean?"

"Never mind, so if you can get us to the barracks unseen then yes you may come, we needed a ranged support anyway." he paused "What does a Magick Archer do?"

"Its class feature allows me enchant spells into my arrows allowing the destructive force of say lightning bolt to be forced to the tip of an arrow."

"Ouch" Ranma said

"Yes higher single target damage but in return it loses its Area of effect. Of course I don't have to fire a spell through my arrow I can just cast it normally."

"What are your elements?"

"Lighting, holy, light, water."

"Holy? Do you know any of those spells."

"Of course"

"You would not happen to have and spell tomes lying around around for that?"

"Holy and void spell tomes are a myth, those elements are too powerful for it to be taught by anything but word of mouth."

"Good then you can teach me."

"You have the Sacred affinity?"

"And every other one except water."

The Miko started at him with the oddest expression on her face "What did you say?"

"I have the affinity for every element except water."

"How is that possible I have four affinities and that is considered rare."

"How should I know, I'm from another world entirely."

She just stared at him seeming to be at a loss for words "So can you get me to the barracks after you grab what you need?"

She shook out of her stupor "Yes of course" her winning smile appeared again "Thank you for taking me."

Firo looked from Akeno's face to her chest lingering on it for a second then made a humphing sound of annoyance.

"This is Firo" Ranma said petting her head "Suu?"

from out of the feathers in Firo's wings slime dropped out and the Miko yelped in surprise jumping back. Suu formed into her humanoid guise though Ranma noted she had formed herself to have a bigger burst size then the women before her. "This Suu another only of my companions say hi."

The slime girl nodded her head slightly "Hello"

"And I have one more but she is outside of town right now and we need to pick her up."

"All of your companions are women?" she asked in amusement

"To be fair" Ranma said "These to started off as monsters that transformed into what they are now, and that is not my fault."

"Yes it is master" Suu said easily.

"Quite you" he answered back in a joking tone.

Akeno looked around at them and nodded to herself "I think I could get to enjoy this."

Firo made another annoyed sound and turned her back on the Miko. She just giggled at that and nodded "Let me get my things and get changed into something more practical we will be going shortly."

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The more practical clothing which she spoke of was green shirt which was still strained by her chest. some dark pants and shoes that looked made for trips to the woods and a dark clock stained from use that when she put it on made her body look something like a human and not a freaking goddess.

She had a pack made and carried her bow in a sheath along her right leg and a quiver of arrows on her left. She moved the cloak so that it hid even those, she left her hood down and nodded "Follow me"

As it turned out there was a tunnel system that doubles as a sewer, without being asked Suu put slime over each of their mouths and noses filtering out the smell. Akeno sighed looking at Suu "Where have you been all my life?"

Suu just smiled back before Armoring up Ranma save for her head which was formed on his shoulder. The place was a maze in and of itself but Akeno moved through them with the assurance of years in exploration. It took half an hour but they came to a simple door where Akeno muttered a few words and it opened. They followed it up a spiral staircase where they came to a brick wall. The girl held up her hand signaling them to wait and simply stepped through the wall. About thirty seconds later her hand appeared through it and motioned them to follow, they entered a rather Spartan room with a cot, a well made but practical desk and a small chest for clothing.

Sherufanir stood there looking as if she had just hastily dressed "Shield hero" she said with a slight bow. "Akeno"

The girl smiled "As I told you I'm going off with him as is my duty, he wishes to get out unseen if at all possible."

The captain grinned "I thought he was the kind of person you would be uncomfortable with all the attention"

"Your right, that's why I want to leave."

"Not even going to stick around for a reward?"

He shook his head "I now have a teacher in Sacred magic, that is reward enough for me."

"True, that is quite a reward but you could ask for more."

"I could but why risk letting that power go to my head, its big enough as it is."

Both women giggled at that "Ok so I think I know a way to get you out of her Sherufanir said "If your bird goes and gets the wagon herself no one will look twice."

Ranma nodded "And with Suu to help her get the harness on she can walk it right out of town where I will be waiting."

"You catch on quick"

Akeno nodded "Its kind hot,"

"Firo" Ranma said.

"Yes Master" she answered primly giveing him and Akeno a suspicious look "No mating while Firo is not here" she said in an authoritative tone.

Ranma felt heat touch his cheeks "Firo" he said in a shocked tone.

"Humff" the girl said and stalked off.

Akeno did not seem to share his embarrassment, rather she seemed quite interested in the idea. "No" Ranma snapped.

"For now" she agreed "The stench of sewer is hardly romantic thought if you were in the mood I would not mind."

Ranma stared at her "Don't take this the wrong way but are you a Succubus?"

She tilted her head back and laughed, long and loud "No, no, close but wrong."

*sigh* "Nevermind."

Sherufanir sighed "If you ever do figure out what she is tell me, because even we don't know." She paused and corrected herself "Well those outside of the upper echelons of the church." shaking her head "Nevermind, thank you for killing that thing, you saved a lot of lives and we are in your debt."

The traded grips " Its what I do" he told her.

Together he and Akeno turned back into the Illusion wall and re entered the sewer, without Suu in close proximity the slime covering fell off leaving them open to the stench. They hastened to get out as fast as possible. There path led them to a set of bar's where the sewer drained out of, Akeno muttered a few more words and the metal bent to allow them a narrow passage. He followed her out of the city along a narrow and worn path set into the stone of the basion the sewer drained into.

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About ten minutes later they met up with Firo and Suu and headed off to find Raphtalia, Ranma sensed her presence as they approached a small face and stopped them. He held up a hand meaning that he was going by himself and climbed the cliff face. Like he thought Raphtalia was sitting there staring out into the sky eyes distant.

They flickered over him as he moved to stand beside her "They told me they could pass on now, that they knew I was safe." She said without being prompted. "They said they loved me and were so proud of what I had become."

"They should be" Ranma said in agreement.

"Restia says the same thing" Raphtalia stood up wrinkling her nose "You smell...interesting."

"Sewer escapes, gotta love them."

"Ah….what are we going to do now?"

"Well we're gonna get you a class change then grind until the wave comes."

She nodded and stepped forward hand behind her back 'We stopped that monster, I thought you were trying to get revenge for me but that was not it was it?"

"It was part of it, I wanted to avenge the people it had killed but yes most of me wanted to stop it from killing anyone else."

"I, I think I get it now, fear, anger, rage, all those emotions have their place don't they?"

"If you're asking as to whether or not you should feel good about killing that monster I would say yes."

She shook her head "I don't feel good or bad, just" she pursed her lips. "Like I completed an era, its over and behind me now."

She turned her head, the sun catching it perfectly her smile, more pure, more beautiful than he had ever seen it before. "I now have nothing to hold me back Master, I you will, I want to stay with you until my dying day."

His head thumped hard as he took in the simply pure beauty of this girl, no this women. He could see her as that now, "I think Raphtalia, that I want to stay here too. My old world," he shook his head "It can't compare to what I have found here."

Ranma walked forward wrapping her in his arms "If you want, you can stay with me as long as you like."

"Ok Ranma" she pursed her lips for a moment "My reward, you promised to give me anything I would like?"

He nodded "I don't care how many women enter your life or how many wives you end up with, and don't give me that look I have two eyes. My reward is that you will marry me first ok."

He gulped "I am not going to tempt fate by saying that will never happen because that is the easiest way to guarantee that it will but if it does. If in the future you still feel this way and you still want to stay. Then yes I will marry you first." They stood there for a moment before

Mentally he glared up at the universe "Don't you dare make me a Harem King."

A shiver went up his spine as he got the sense of the universe at large sticking its metaphorical tongue out at him. Shit he should not have even thought that.

They landed next to the wagon and Ranma gently put her down "Thank you master, for everything."

"Your welcome, I am glad to have known you, you changed my life."

"Aww so cute" Akeno said from the wagon leaning on the back railing where and giving them a smile.

Raphtalia's smile froze on her face as she took in the girl leering at him, her eyes flickered down and stared for several seconded. Her head turned to him a dangerous fake smile plastered on it

"M..a..s..t..e..r... who is this?"

*Gulp*

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Hope you liked it fanboy out.

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	9. Chapter 9

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Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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Ranma(now female) currently set stomach deep in water, after they had got some good distance from the city she had ordered everyone to rest. Raphtalia had taken several hours of fuming until she had calmed down. To her credit she did not so much as touch him in anger, Akeno had found the whole situation amusing as hell which did not help things. So when she had ordred everyone to go and train after camp set up the Tanuki girl had gone off to no doubt release some steam.

Akeno had informed him that she was going to practice with her bow and Firo and suu were hunting. So he had gotten undressed grabbed the necro dragon heart and stepped into the small pond to get clean and do some work. Naturally this turned him into a girl but that was fine for what she was doing.

Currently she was holding the dragon core with both her hands, drawing power with the right one, purifying it with her own Ki and sending it back to the core with her left. It had taken several painful experiments to figure out the maximum amount of energy she could handle at once. If she ended up taking too much the power would backlash with agonizing mental effects.

Still it was going faster than she had really expected, she was going to have to stop in a few moments because her mana bar was rapidly draining. With a sigh she put it to the side, about one eighth of it had been purified which was good enough for today.

Leaning back she let out a sigh, the battle with the Cerberus had been sort of a wake up call. She was quite sure the monster was not the strongest thing in the world and it had been more powerful than anything she had faced so far. Given how life generally was that meant it would harder still it. She looked up as something approached, Akeno in her hunter outfit walked forward with an arrow knocked but not drawn.

Ranma raised an eyebrow before it occurred to her that she did not know about the curse, "May I ask who you are gorgeous" the girl said amiably.

Ranma raised the shield showing it to her and even morphing it to confirm what it was. "I suppose I forgot to tell you."

Akeno just stared at her open mouthed like a fish, "Its a curse i gained in my original world" she cupped some water "To make a long story very short, cold water changes me into girl, hot water into a boy."

The girl just sort of stood there for a moment, held up a finger in the gesture of give me a moment turned around and walked out of sight. Ranma waited for several minutes before she came walking back sans arrow, and sans clothing.

She looked away her face flushed as the girl entered the water with her, sitting down so that the water just covered her chest. "Ok" she said calmly "Please explain."

Ranma did a very good job of avoiding her eyes as she spoke "It all started when my moran of a dad decided training could best be done at a group of cursed hot springs."

(Twenty minutes later)

"And here we are now" Ranma finished.

"I have never heard of a curses like that."

"Neither did I until I got hit by it."

"At least you got a hot body out of it?" Her voice filled with mirth "I'll bet you did a bit of exploring with it?'

She gave her a look of horror "What?"

Akeno laughed at her look "I'm kidding, you don't seem like the person that would do that."

Ranma ducked under water and held her breath trying to get rid of the flush that had come across her face. In several moments of weakness the idea had occurred to her. Her will and own mortification at the idea of doing anything like that with her body had stopped her.

When she surfaced and shook the water from her eyes emotions were back under control, at least that was until she noticed that Akeno had crossed the pool and was standing over her with a positively predatory grin. "um" Ranma managed to say before the girl began to aggressively fondle her body.

That was when the most girly sound she had ever made came out of her mouth "Kyaaa!"

"Oh my" hands roamed everywhere "So muscled yet not losing the feminine touch"

Her normal reaction of beating the ever loving hell of whatever or whoever was touching her seemed to be shorting out right now. That reason of course being that she had never had a women try that on her.

"Perfect proportions" Akeno was muttering "everything just the right size ."

"S-stop" Ranma said desperately.

"Why I'll bet if feels good."

A hand grabbed Akeno's shoulder and yanked her off of the poor girl, Raphtalia looked somewhere between enraged and jealous. "What do you think your are doing?"

"Skinship of course"

"S-skinship" Raphtalia stuttered.

"of course" she said without shame " You have such a head start on me I need to try and catch up."

Ranma finally shook herself out of her daze "So Skinship helps?" Raphtalia asked looking a little too intently at Akeno.

"No, no it does not" Ranma shouted in a panic "Don't do that again!"

Akeno grinned "But why Ranma, you seemed to enjoy it?"

"No I did not!"

A new voice joined in as they all heard "Firo Cannonball!" her child from came spinning down from the sky transforming into her bird from as she did so. There was enough force to drench them all, she bobbed up like a top. "What did Firo say about mating" the Philo Rial snarled.

"...what?" Ranma asked.

"Firo could smell it, you two were about to mate."

It took Ranma several seconds of panicked thought before she realized what the girl was talking about. "Um, Firo...the smell of arousal does not mean humans are always going to mate. We" she paused glancing at Akeno "I at least can control myself."

Akeno touched her heart "That hurts master." a laugh followed it "But at least i know you really, really enjoyed it."

If her face was not already scarlet it was now it certainly so, "Look I"

Akeno stood up then and Ranma found himself staring at her mountains in a sort of daze before snapping her eyes shut. Raphtalia of course noticed very much where her eyes had been stuck and let out a growl.

Hand reached around her head and pull it into something soft, Akeno's voice came out amused "Now that is much worse than what I was doing."

"Hold in blood, hold in blood," Ranma chanted as the two soft objects pressed against her.

"Firo wants a hug too"

"Well if both of you are doing it I don't see why I can't."

That was when Akeno encircled her too along with Firo, of course Firo was not much of a problem but the addition of Akeno's mountains to Raphtalia's mounds meant only one reaction was possible.

Ranma slumped forward and simply passed out right then and there with blood from her nose leaking out into the pool. .

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The next morning after he had turned back into a man, he had given them a severe tongue lashing. They had promptly ignored the tongue lashing and he felt that might have been because Akeno had bent over and he had lost his train of thought for several seconds.

It was going to take him a few weeks to get used to her and her body but he would get to the point where it did not affect some badly...hopefully.

So they were riding the wagon with Firo pulling them along at a fast clip, Raphtalia the poor girl was once again safely within Suu. Speaking of Suu, Ranma taped the wagon and her head appeared between him and Akeno who was sitting in the front with him "Yes?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Training Master."

"Oh..good job"

"Thank you" her head vanished.

Akeno looked down where she had been "How long does it take to get used to that?"

"Three days give or take"

"Ah."

"Do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

She smiled "You may ask but I make no promises to the answer...unless its an order."

"Ok then," He paused thinking "_She did not want to talk about what she was but maybe she would answer who._"

"How did you become what you are?"

Her eyes went distant "Once upon a time this position was given only to the daughter of the original priestess." she let out a slight laugh "Then they started having sons and that was changed. Soon it became that the apprentice of the current priestess took the position." her smile became somewhat wistful. "I was just a small refugee among a large crowd, it would not have turned out well for me I think. In fact I look human enough to be sold as one. I was taken, tied up and thrown in a dark room."

Ranma glanced back at Raphtalia "Looks like you two have something in common then."

Akeno followed his gaze "Ah, I see" *sigh* "Nothing was done to me, but that was only become she came. I remember an argument, the sound of shouting and the feeling of magic then silence. We she found me in the back room I was taken to the temple, she bathed me, fed me, let me cry my small heart out then asked if I wanted to stay."

He smiled "I think I could get along with her"

Her eyes sparkled "If she was still alive I would think so too, she educated me, taught me magic, archery." an almost bitter laugh came out "You should have seen the infighting between her and the city when it became clear what she was training me for. Only the fact that despite the looks I was not human calmed them. Granted they did not know what I was and I am fine with that but It was still a major point of contention." with a shake of her head she continued "She died two years ago of an overuse of magic"

Ranma noted that she did not say anything about what had caused that overuse of magic but did not push. "With her dead I as her apprentice became the youngest to ever assend to this position." her real smile returned "Then you showed up and here I am now."

They continued talking as the wagon bounced along the road at whatever pace Firo felt like, according to their maps Firo had made even better time than he had hoped and they were only two days away from the capital.

They stoped and made camp after which Ranma took the chance to train Firo, Suu, and Raphtalia. He also convinced Akeno to learn from him as well after explaining all the stat boosts the Martial Arts Skill gave. He worked on hand to hand combat with her as so to give her something to do if anything got within the range of the bow. He worked very hard to give all the girls equal time under his tutelage and avoid teaching Akeno how to grapple, he was not that stupid.

Will he was going through a form with Suu copying his movements the slime asked "Master?"

"Yes Suu?"

"That cold thing you did, back against the Cerberus how did you do it? Suu has been trying to copy it but can't."

"That Suu is a skill that you are not ready for" he thought about it for a moment "But I am impressed you noticed it, when you reach the rank of expert I'll show you how."

"Yay" she said.

The continued moving in unison through the from "What do you think of Akeno?"

Suu pondered that question for a moment "Suu can have bigger boobs so Suu is ok with her."

"What does boobs have to do with it?"

Suu sighed deeply "Master can be so dense sometimes"

He decided to move away from that subject before he dug the hole deeper "I noticed you have been using water pressure for your attacks."

"Suu has."

"I have some ideas as to how we can use that better."

The slime girl smiled at him "Suu is listening"

Ranma found himself grinning back "First off all did you know that water with enough pressure can punch holes in steel?"

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As the training drew to a close he was working with Raphtalia on hand to hand, the girl was now better than him with a sword so any input he might have on that would probably be detrimental. Right now he was working on getting her in touch with her Ki, it had taken him years but with the insight he had Ranma was pretty sure he could work that down to a few months. Judging by how close Raphtalia was to it he thought he was right.

In the middle of their match Raphtalia sudden asked "Do you like big breasts?"

"What?" he asked and his guard fell enough for Raphtalia to deck him in the chest, "You stare at that woman."

"I also stare at you!"

That stunned her into silence for a moment "Hell for that matter the only person I don't have trouble staring at is Firo."

"But" she said.

"Raphtalia, women are not one size fits all, if there was no diversity. If all women were the exact same it would be a sad, sad world. I like you, I like your body can you please stop putting me on the spot with these questions."

"Y-you like my body"

Ranma stopped moving and just stared at her "I thought that was self evident"

"T-then tell me I'm pretty."

"Raphtalia you are beautiful, you are amazing, and right now, just because we have a new women in the party does not mean that I am going to give all my attention to her. In fact one day is not enough for me to form a meaningful relationship that takes a little time, ok?"

Raphtalia looked a little woozy at his declaration, but she also looked a lot happier than she had been since Akeno joined the party.

And so it came time for magic training "*fu*fu* are you ready master?"

"Not you too" Ranma(Now girl) whined. Akeno laughed again "Oh she was right this is fun."

"Damit Suu" Ranma called out.

The slime laughed back at him from wherever she was "Now master" Akeno said primly "What do you wish to learn"

"Sacred magic."

She nodded "Ok then let us began, first what do you know of it?"

"Nothing"

Akeno nodded "Good answer, the basics first then. The Sacred element or holy element is the power to erase darkness, purify corruption, vanquish evil." She paused for a moment "Of course don't think for a moment that it cannot be used for a darker purpose. The power in and of itself is a force of good but it truly depends on the person using it." She held up her hands and with a chant a veil fell around the area eliminating sound to those outside.

"What I am about to teach you is of the greatest secrecy." She tilted her head "Granted as the hero of the shield you may do as you wish with it."

Ranma nodded "Now where do you think the power of Holy comes from?"

In girl form she came to an answer that might have taken a long time as a guy "Faith"

Akeno blinked in surprise "That's right, for the most part. The stronger you believe what you are doing is right the more of an impression the magic makes upon the world. In stories of old entire villages would channel their power through one with the sacred element the sum of their faith in what they were doing gave what ever spell was cast power far beyond what should have been possible."

Ranma pursed her lips "But you can be doing the wrong thing and still believe in it wholeheartedly."

Akeno nodded "That is how it can be prevented, however if one believe they are doing and evil thing the belief in the magic will not work."

"But if a person did the same evil thing and believed it a good action then?"

"Then the magic would work, thats kind of how the inquisitions got going."

The shield hero stared into the distance at nothing "What I have faith in is myself, I know there are higher powers otherwise I would not get fucked so hard. But what I believe in is martial arts, I believe in the duty that practitioners of the art take upon themselves. The protection of the weak, the keeping of promises and the honor one must hold oneself too."

Ranma noted that Akeno was looking at her with the oddest expression "Finding the sources of ones greatest faith is the next lesson. But you are supposed to keep it to yourself, such intimate knowledge is dangerous and powerful." The girl looked a little embarrassed "That you just told me that, like-like it was nothing, that's is terrifying."

A smile stretched Ranma's face "Well what is the source of your greatest faith?"

"Is that and order master?"

"of course not"

"Then if it that is the case I would prefer to keep it to myself"

The Shield hero shrugged "Fair enough."

"One more question, how far do you want to take this?"

A hint of an arrogant smile touched Ranma's face "Until I am the best in the world."

Akeno shook her head "I think I really like you master, now lets start with the small stuff, something like Radiant Burst."

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By the time Ranma ran out of steam the sun was long gone, Firo and Suu had caught dinner for which they were well rewarded with a pat on the head for Firo and a Kiss for Suu. By the time Ranma(Now He) was done he noted that Akeno had spirited Raphtalia away for something she called a girl to girl talk. The Tanuki had not been happy about it but she went along with it, Ranma got himself a hurried bath and managed to get finished and back into male form before the two of them returned.

He never did find out what they talked about but the coldness Raphtalia had been emitting towards the new girl had abruptly vanished. It was rather disconcerting in a way, in fact to his mind it almost looked like the established a truce based on common ground. Hmm mayhaps he should be worried as to what this could mean.

Something twinged on his senses and he glanced around sounds small movements just far enough away that he could not get a good sense of what it was. The sounds vanished and he shook, his head, most likely just monsters.

He glanced over at the two girls who were whispering to each other, in fact Raphtalia was jotting down notes, occasionally flushing as some remark. Vaguely he could make out Akeno whispering "And remember to sway your hips it draws the eye and that very important."

Firo and Suu were having a sparring match which was causing rampant destruction, he felt kind of proud actually seeing that. He leaned back and closed his eyes today had been a good day, now if only he could figure out what Akeno was talking about with Raphtalia.

"Do you ever feel you're being watched?" Ranma asked to no one in particular.

Akeno glanced at him from her seat on the wagon's front "No master"

They were currently traveling through a plains like environment, the path was walled in on either side by wheat like plants about eight feet tall in length. It made for great training in teaching his students how to deal with surprise attacks and using senses other than sight to make up for lack of vision.

Unsurprisingly Firo was really good at it and Suu was as well for some reason, how the hell did she even hear things?

Raphtalia and Akeno were still having trouble working through the loss of sight that happened when one entered the tall plants but they were getting better.

What was bugging him was the sense that somewhere on the edge of his perception something was following them. A lot of somethings were following them always out of sight, hell he might have assumed he was just being paranoid if it weren't for the fact chaos was a constant in his life.

"Master" Akeno said leaning against him, he noted the change in her voice and the way she bent her body to give him the best angle. Thankfully as she was in her travelers clothing it was not that big of a deal.

He raised an eyebrow "Don't you and Raphtalia have a truce of something?"

She blinked "What gave you that Idea?"

"...you're like best friends or something now."

"Oh that" the dark haired girl shrugged "We came to an agreement."

"What kind of one?"

"Oh this and that."

Ranma frowned "Not helpful."

"If you wish you can."

"I'm not going to order you to tell me something you don't want to."

Her eyes sparkled and she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, he jerked to one side nearly sending Firo off the road. The bird straightened her path and turned her neck one hundred and eighty degrees to give him an annoyed "phuu" before refocusing on the road.

Akeno giggled "I am really starting to like you master."

"Don't do that" he half whined.

"Why, you kissed Raphtalia on the lips?"

"I'm expecting it then"

"Oh so I surprised you?"

He glared at her, "Its only fair master, you should be more aware of your surroundings." She pressed up against him his arm being swallowed in between her breasts "And of the enemy you face."

His face crimson in embarrassment he muttered to himself about ungrateful students who turned his own words back on him.

A blue tentacle shot out from the wagon and yanked Akeno into the carriage "Hey what are you doing" the girl squealed "That doesn't go there, hey that tickles." The girl let out a scream "Master"

Ranma glanced back worried at just what was happening, he should not have been worried. The slime girl had taken off one of Akeno's shoes and was tickling the sole of her foot.

While that was happening slime gathered onto the seat where she had been and Suu appeared in her busty form. Ranma raised and eyebrow as Suu copied what Akeno had done to his arm pressing it against her.

"Really?"

"Really" Suu answered "Master seemed to like it so I wanted to try"

In the wagon bed Akeno freed herself from the grapple, she gave a fencers nod to Suu and moved Ranma towards the center of the front seat. She returned to her position and stared at Suu with a smirk on her face. Suu returned the stare and with an effort of will expanded her own assets to surpass the priestess.

The girl's face froze for a second in a cracked smile "Oh you're good"

"Suu is good"

Ranma got the feeling of a tree in cougar country, hopefully there would not be territorial scarring of his bark next.

"Suu likes master"

"I can see that"

"Suu thinks your pretty"

"Thank you"

"Master also thinks your petty"

Her eye sparkled "well now"

"But Suu was here first"

"...I see…"

Ranma frowned deeply and scrunched up his shoulders trying to stay out the metaphorical lightning bolts flashed out in between the slime and the girl. Then Akeno paused blinked and suddenly laughed "Oh, ara ara I'm sorry Suu I don't want to take him away I just want an affair."

Ranma gave her a look of horror as Suu tilted her head "Ah Suu is fine with that then."

"Now wait a minute" Ranma said.

"Yes Master" they both answered.

"Suu do you even know what she is saying?"

"She wants to mate with you." the slime said as a matter of fact.

Something in his head exploded as the ability to make words simply stopped "Good we have an agreement" Akeno said.

"Suu agrees"

Ranma decided for his sanity that ignoring the two's conversion was his only option, the only problem with that was his lower regions refused to listen to his order to calm down. In desperation he poured water over himself and transformed into a girl. Neither the slime or priestess showed any change in pace at that. "Empty night" she sighed the headaches never stopped.

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She woke up during the middle of the night to the sound of Philo Rial cries lots of them, Akeno who was on watch was standing bow half strung looking around. Firo was up as well in her demon from looking confused.

"Master" she called out as Ranma and Raphtalia hastily dressed.

"Yes?"

"They say they're coming to meet me?"

"Who?"

Firo tilted her head "The other Philo Ria of course."

Ranma listened as the ground rumbled "How many?"

Firo paused for a moment "All of them?" she offered.

The large wheat light plant began to be trampled around them, nothing could be seen yet as a layer of the stuff still separated them from sight. But if the ground was literally trembling that could only mean one thing. More cries were heard and Firo tilted her head "There are so many, Firo can't keep up."

"What the hell?" Ranma half sighed preparing spells to the tip of her tongue and mind. "It was just a guess but this was not a normal occurrence...unless they did a go south for the winter thing like birds in his world. No that would not make sense they were headed east right now, logic said that it might have something to do with Firo but what?.

It took nearly half an hour for the earth to stop shaking and the cries to abruptly fall silent, the last layer of wheat like plants were trampled and under the light of the full moon Ranma could see what had happened. They were currently surrounded, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of Philo Rial. As far as he could see into the moonlit night there eyes glowed back upon him a sea of stars against the dark landscape.

Behind her Akeno and Raphtalia went back to back as both let out a loud gulp at the sight, Ranma was going through her head calculations at the idea of having to fight them. Lets just say it would not be fun if Firo was any example of what they could become of course granted Firo had the Ki advantage but still.

Everything went quite under the stars as the Shield hero and her companions stared down the army of monsters that had surrounded the camp. Firo however looking nonplussed while Suu slithered up around Ranma and formed into her armor.

No one moved, no one seemed to want to move...it was kind of starting to get awkward. Then a single sound pierced the silence it was the cry of a Philo Rial but it had something in in that reminded one of a trumpeter "Gua!"

Then was movements that would have made an army instructor proud the birds in front of them took three steps to the left and right. Like sea parting the opened a path through the center of them. A single Philo Rial walked towards them pulling what Ranma could only describe as the most extravagant, more expensive, most flamboyant carriage she had ever seen. The thing looked to be made of gold though it was more likely it was gold plated. The wheels were solid metal with germs at the centers each a different color. In laid in tasteful positions were more large gemstones with runes of silver inlaid lovingly across the gold plating.

Ranma frowned and glanced down at her shield, yep the gems looked like the same kind as the shield had in its center. The single Philo Rial pulled the carriage and Ranma caught Firo staring at it with drool coming out of her mouth. "Wow…...that is so cool. I'm jealous" Thats right the Philo Rial seemed to have a fetish for carriages or wagons.

The carriage approved them and suddenly Ranma felt magic, at least three times the amount of magic she had in her whole body pulse out from within that vehicle. All around them the trampled plants began to glow green lighting up the area to the point where Ranma could see the end of the Philo Rial Army.

Akeno looked around confused "A barrier?"

Raphaelia spoke without taking her eyes off the demon birds "What?"

"Sanctuary type barrier a high class illusion magic. The heroes of old are said to have hidden their equipment inside of a Sanctuary type barrier such as this." The priestess looked around and even though her eyes were closed Ranma got the feeling she was seeing something they could not. "If people look on this area they will see a fog" she said "It is similar but not the same to the barrier that guards the old hero's equipment."

The single Philo Rial that had been pulling the cart shrugged off the harness connecting her to it, power swelled around the bird. Power on the scale that had created the barrier, power that was one on a grander scale than Happosai, power more controlled than the old ghoul. It grew and grew until a Philo Rial over nine feet tall. But it looked exactly like Firo looked from the white feathers to the pink tips. The only real difference a wing like crown that adorned her head regal as anything that monarchs in this world and hers.

"Kueeeeeee!" the creature cried and Ranma felt her everything vibrate to the sound waves of the noise.

Firo turned to them "Um she says that because there is an ancient pledge and oath, that she can not speak to people easily but she wants to talk with us."

Ranma was not even surprised that Firo could talk to others of her kind, why not it made a sort of scenes. She walked forward to stand beside Firo staring into the eyes of the huge Philo Rial. "I am Ranma Saotome Hero of the shield"

"Kueeee"

"She knows" Firo informed her "She says that she is the Queen of the Philo Rial but her old name was Fitoria."

"I see" Ranma pursed her lips "I assume you wish to talk."

Fitora gave out several sharp sounds and Firo frowned "You wish to know my ability?"

Ranma frowned at that the Queen made several more sounds "Firo's a queen to?"

What that made her eyes go wide, hopefully this was not going to be like when there were too many queen bees in one hive. Because if that was the case she was going to have to fight something on Saffrons level and that never ended well, she was still dealing with the fallout from that fight.

"Master she was a" Firo tilted her head listening "She says she wants to fight but I think its more of a sparring match."

"To what end?" Ranma found herself asking cautiously.

Fitoria did a few more bird cries "She says its not a death match she just wants to see how strong Firo is."

Ranma glanced at the army surrounding them "I reserve the right to interfere if I desire"

Fitoria tilted her head back and started cawing and Firo bristled "She's laughing master."

The red head shrugged "Considering the power she has my statement might be laughable." There was no warning, no prelude to the next action. One moment Ranma was standing still beside Firo, the next she was inches away from Fitora's face. To any eye save Fitora's it looked like the martial artist had teleported. Air solidified for a moment under her feet as her whispered spell finished, it would only last for a few seconds but that was enough. Eye to eye with a creature on the same level as Saffron god the phoenix flame she said in an utterly empty voice "Are you still laughing?"

The air spell faded and Ranma landed lightly in front of the queen, she got the sense that through her actions she had gained this creature's full and complete attention. Tension mounted as they did not break eye contact, neither moving a muscle.

Then unexpectedly the Philo Rial queen tilted her head slightly and let out a very soft "Quuee"

Firo who looked like she had just forgotten how to breathe said "She apologizes master"

Ranma nodded and in the same faster than fast movement returned to her original place, "Firo do you want to?"

The bird clawed the ground and her eyes suddenly glowed bright "Oh yes Master"

Ranma nodded and went over to Firo whispering several words of advice in her ear, "Ok master"

"Good" Ranma stepped back and around them the Philo Rial's made space for combat "Firo will not lose" the bird called out.

"Guaaaaaaa" was the sound a thousand throats made as the other Philo Rial's cheered their queen.

Fitora set herself and waited making it clear that Firo was to make the first move, Firo tensed and with a sudden burst of speed that left a circle of dust behind her she charged the queen. Fitora raised one wing and as Firo got into range brought it down.

At the last second the bird equivalent of a smirk appeared on Firo's face, her ki shimmered around her legs as she dashed to the side leaving several afterimages behind her. Even as the Philo Rial's wingbeat slapped the ground Filo was curving her high speed movement focusing all of her power to a single point. Her kick caught Fitora in the leg just above one of her clawed feet.

The force of the blow backed by the power Firo's life incarnate caused the desired effect knocking the queen over. However as this happened the Fitora wings flashed out and flapped hard. The wind force sent Firo tumbling as the action allowed the Philo Rial queen to regain her footing. Ranma noted however that she was putting more weight on her left leg now.

Firo saw it too and Ranm felt proud of her teaching ability it was one thing to show someone how to hit an opponent, it was quite another to teach her how to look at one. Firo dashed circling her opponent trying to get on her weaker side. Fitora turned with her however the hurt foot was not so bad that she could not put weight on it.

There was the sound of something like thunder as Firo dashed at Fitora Ki and wind magic pulsing off her. But Fitora was ready, Ranma had noted that she had been able to track her movements during their short confrontation she just had not been able to react fast enough.

Perhaps that had been a mistake as it had set the creature on her guard against similar movements. One wing slapped Firo away knocking her off course, the magic faded and Firo blurred into after images seeming to be coming at the Philo Rial queen from the front and the back at the same time. The queen ignored the afterimages and parried the real ones kick with her wing, Firo had been prepared for that as her body blurred again running up the wing and her kick catching Fitora in the area between her beak and her neck.

Firo was already leaping back off of her as the wing force sent her sprawling again, Fitora had not reacted to the kick in any way, it had almost been like Firo had kicked a wall. The two Philo Rial's started at each other as Firo regained her feet and Fitora gently rubbed the spot where Firo had kicked were with the feathery edge of a wing.

Something changed about her stance, her eyes became brighter and sharper Ranma knew the look, she had just started to take this fight seriously. Firo charged again heedless of the change starting to zig zag and strafe her ki causing more images of her to appear and confuse the issue. About six images of Firo converged on the queen but she ignored all but the last, her own leg, her currently hurt one at that lashed out.

Firo's forward moment turned into backward force as she spun end over end through the air, in that moment Fitora took in a breath and a nearly imperceptible barrier of wind coated her body. Ranma herself would not have noticed it in male form but as stated before female form was much better at noticing and dealing with magic.

Firo took a few moment to get up but get up she did, FItora gave a caw of approval or at least that was what Ranma assumed she had done. Firo shook herself and began to chant "Firo command the origin of power. Firo had read and deciphered the laws of nature. blow her away with a raging tornado, Tzuvait Tornado!"

Ranma's eyebrows tired to climb their way right off her head "Looks like someone has been spying on my magic practice" she said aloud.

As the spell no doubt intended a whirling miniature tornado about three times the size of Firo spun towards Fitora. That was when Ranma felt it agian, raw magical power "Kuekuekeu kueeeeeee" the Philo Rial queen cawed. The tornado shimmered with another magic and then vanished in an instant.

"Counterbalance" Akeno whispered in shock.

Ranma however knew that already, her mind went blank as the scene of counterbalance replied over and over in her head. Information of the phenomenon, everything she had read united to a single point. Interfering with magic, counter balance is only possible if the user has sufficient power and is able to analyse the magic as it is cast. The proper magic system required varies every time. All this Ranma knew but seeing it in action it clicked. This was the power of anything goes to see a technique and know it, to take it for your own and use it against one's enemy. Already several ideas and innovations were flowing through her mind of how such a skill could be applied.

Shaking herself out of her sudden flash of insight she watched Firo somehow get through the queens defenses and land another strike only to be deflected and blown away by the wind armor. Still the attack had touched skin ruffling a few feathers, the kick Firo had landed before was turning into a nice bruise.

Firo was breathing hard now, she had been using up a lot of her power at an extremely fast rate and it was starting to catch up with her. Still she pressed on wind and ki gathering around her her legs tensing as if for another charge. Fitora set herself ready for what was going to be the final attack of this match she knew it, Ranma knew it, and Firo knew it.

All of Firo's feathers stood on end as if she had been hit by a burst of static electricity visible wind swirled around her legs, her body, her head. Golden ki colored that wind in streamers of radiance and the air around her began to shimmer with power. Then something more happened the very magic in the air around them began to become visible and spin around her as she somehow absorbed the stuff.

Ranma made a mental note to study up on that once she had tired her innovation on counterbalance.

It took about half a minute, far too long to be of any use in battle but for this with an opponent content to wait and see it was perfect.

Everything had become quiet for those moments, but that was shattered when Firo let out a war cry and charged her elder. Fitora looked ready her wings tensed as she prepared her defence, faster and faster the distance closed.

The second of action came as Fitora's wings shot up as if she had planned to smash Firo like a bug, but that was not what Firo had in mind. The instant before she came in range of those wings the demon bird abruptly came to a dead stop. Her body whiplashed and her head snapped forward " Moko Takabisha" her companion shouted.

A status update appeared on Ranma's status screen informing her that because of her mastery of Anything goes way of the monkey Firo was now considered a first level master in the art. A list of stat's increased and retroactive stat advances also appeared under that message about Firo's stats. But Ranma was not paying full attention to that.

Firo's moko takabisha was different from her masters, it was cone shaped to a razor point with wind swirling around it making it faster. Whereas Ranma's was explosive and destructive Firo's was focused to a single point, a piercing attack of immense power.

Fitora had not been ready for that, the ki attack hit her center chest and drove her back foot by foot as it clashed with her wind armor. The shear friction the warring magics caused had arcs of electricity to spew everywhere. For that moment the Queen of the Philo Rial's could not move to defend herself. Firo called to the last of her stores of energy dashing forward leaping into the air and kicking with everything she had on the flat end of her moko takabisha.

There was an explosion, a flash of light and a wave of wind, when that faded Firo was lying about twenty feet away from Fitora she had reverted to human form was was lying on the ground panting. Fitora was still standing, Ranma could sense her wind armor had broken and blood trickled down from a chest wound where Firo's attack had pierced skin.

Ranma walked out on to the field landing beside Firo "*huff*huff* sorry master Firo lost"

"You did amazing," she told her "I have never been so impressed in my entire life Firo"

"Really?"

"Really" she assured her, with several motions she picked her up and had her wrap her arms around her neck. Ranma turned to Fitora who was approached them he held up a finger before she could speak and approached her slowly. The Shield of Reiki appeared on her arm and she touched the wound Firo had caused, as it had with humans the power of her ki closed the wound, mended flesh and even grew back the feathers that had been destroyed. As a side note Ranma also healed the bruise on the queens neck and the hairline crack on her leg.

"Queee" she said, and Firo spoke in a tired voice "She says thank you and that you and I were much more than she was expecting."

From what might be a semi divine being that was high praise "KeeKue"

Firo blink blearly at the Queen "You're going to give me something?"

A single feather pulled itself off of the featherly crown and landed on Firo's' head the feather turned gold and vanished and an honest to god ahoge appeared in its place.

Firo did not seem to notice any change at all, a stat screen appeared showing her ability scores had risen again. Well, well, well, things just kept getting stranger and stranger, there was no way in hell that was all this gift did, not with the chaos that infested her life.

Then the Queen of the Philo Rial's turned to him and pointed at her shield and pointed up, Ranma got an idea of what was about to happen and lifted the shield towards the queen. Another feather pulled itself off of the crown and fell onto the shield. With a glow the thing was absorbed "All Philorial Series have been unsealed"

Ranma checked the skill trees and noted a lot of shields with speed ups, Philorical ability corrections, ect and a lot of shields she could not use yet because her level was apparently not high enough.

"Um thank you" she said deciding some smart ass comment about balding problems would be out of line. Fitora shrank back to her original size and the harness attached themselves to her without any help. Then the damndest thing happened the bird spoke, and not just spoke, spoke with a voice exactly like Firo's ""I have an old oath that I can only speak words of parting with humans so see ya"

With those words she turned around and dashed away, Ranma just started after her as the sound barrier broke. "What the hell" she said.

Around the army of Philo Rial vanished as they dispersed and ran the earth shook again as they moved and it was a while before it stopped, that had not stopped Firo from falling asleep on her back. Given how much power she just threw around it looked like she had found her limit and crashed.

Akeno turned to Raphaelia, they both had been quiet during this whole event "Does this happen often?"

Raphaelia shook herself "Its never the same thing but events like this do happen a lot."

"Ah, I will be more prepared next time."

Suu's head appeared on the shoulder Firo was not sleeping on and Ranma looked at her "There's not a queen slime is there?"

Suu's feeler took the shape of a question mark "How should Suu know?"

"Right that would be to easy"

Ranma looked around to her companions "Screw it were sleeping this off like a bad hangover all in favor?"

"I" the three awake girls said.

Ranma focused a little and waved her hand, a small green glow suffused them "Its not anyway near as good as what we just saw but it will keep the monsters away."

Akeno stared at her "You know how to use barrier?"

"Not until ten minutes ago no"

"But you only saw it once?"

That caused the redhead to grin "Sometimes thats all that its needed, wait till you see what I have planned for counterbalance."

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The next morning was an interesting one, Firo came to the relizaion that there was an ahoge on her head, when she turned into her demon from it appeared as a single feather which she pulled out multiple times only to find out it grew back. Eventually she had to give and spent a great deal of time pouting and muttering about her loss. Ranma decided to let her fume for a while and get it out of her system if she could not come out of her own funk Ranma could kiss her on the head to do so. Having decided to let Firo rest the whole day Ranma now found herself in an argument with Akeno around just after lunch having spent the whole morning mastering counterbalance and working on her invitation. "You want me to what?!"

"For the third time I want your to throw a lightning bolt at me Akeno"

She sputtered "But master that just stupid and dangerous."

"I'm the shield hero I think I can tank a little lighting."

The priestess gave a frustrated growl "My lighting is naturally stronger than most master I can't."

"As party leader, not as the shield hero" she made sure to state that last part very clearly "I order you to help me train."

She gave her a helpless look "Fine if you down want to I'll have Raphaelia throw her shadow wave at me" Ranma turned to Raphaelia who looked horrified at the thought.

"All right master I'll do it" Akeno sighed in a defeated manner.

"Awesome" Ramma said with a happy grin.

"Um master maybe this is not a good idea" Raphaelia said.

"Of course its not a good idea but you should see how badly my good ideas tend to go, this is actually safer and more to the point lighting is the fastest magic so if what I am planing works I'll know I did it right."

Raphaelia pursed her lips "Um master do you have any more of that ointment?"

Ranma waved a hand at her pack "Ya I've been toying with medicine since I have really good shield for it, hard to find a use for it though when my Reiki is so much better."

"I'll make some balm," her companion told her and when you take a bath i'll be ready to apply."

Ranma did not let it show how awesome that sounded, Raphaelia had been reading up on massage books and that combined with the knowledge of pressure points that she was teaching her made her really, really, really good. But per guy code she could not let on how much she loved it.

The walked about twenty feet away from the camp and Suu appeared out of the trampled grass "Perhaps Suu should armor master" she told him with a worried expression on her face.

"No thank you Suu" Ranma pounded her chest "I need motivation to make this work and nothing motivates a human like pain," she paused for a moment "Or pleasure" she said as an after thought.

Taking her place she focused her mana "Alright hit me"

Akeno cursed out loud and prepared, "Wait" The girl sighed with relief at Ranma's order. Stepping away Ranma took off her shirt and pants and then stepped back into the line of fire "Ok now my clothing won't be destroyed "Hit me Akeno!"

The girl had a bit of drool coming out of her mouth but the sound of her name reminded her what she was supposed to do. With clear reluctance she chanted her spell and cast forward a bolt of lightning that had a savage brilliance Ranma had never seen before. Her technique was ready, her mana control perfect….and then the bolt hit her in the chest and sent her flying back forty five feet in a painful tumble.

Ranma got back to her feet "Ow, ow, ow," she muttered shaking it off "Ok so I can't just let it hit me not yet anyway, my mind need something to connect what I am trying to do."

"Master are you all"

"Again" Ranma said interrupting her.

"But"

"Again" she said.

Once more the same thing happened and the shield hero was knocked flying, "Ow, ok need to work on the focus point."

This repeated for about twelve more lightning bolts as Raphaelia, Suu and Akeno seemed in some sort of horrified awe. They knew how tough their master was but those bolts were no joke, seeing her smashed again and again with only scorch marks on her chest to show for it was something else.

"Ok" Ranma said flinching as her chest clenched up "Again"

Akeno looked really, really, scared at this point "Please" Ranma said "I think I got it and if it does not work we can stop."

Looking sort of relieved at seeing and end point the poor girl chanted her spell again "I am the priestess of the shield who commands the origin of power, vanish with the sky's wrath, Thunderbolt"

Once again the scorching light seared the air with ozone, the flash and savage radiance flared forth once more. And Ranma held out her right hand palm up, in the instant the light passed over her hand power flared to life, the lighting bolt stopped as a band of thin white energy expanded in a circle from Ranma's palm then the circle closed and as if turning off a light the thunderbolt vanished. "Ha" Ranma said punching the sky in glee and then curled in on herself as her entire chest protested the movement "Ow, ow, ow ,ow!" she snarled putting both arms across her stomach.

Akeno, Raphaelia, both of them stood there stunned, Suu held out her slime and a white circle expanded and faded. Ranma noted that and muttered "So not fair...though I suppose that was what my opponents thank when I do the same thing."

"Ranma" Akeno said forgetting her game of making the Shield hero uncomfortable by calling her master "how did, what did?"

Raphaelia finished for her "what the hell did you do?"

Ranma recovered her breath and control over her pain 'Hee, hee" she laughed "Counterbalance"

"But counter balance has to be done as the spell is being cast not the instant before it hits." Akeno said

Ranma grinned "I once saw a man cut a bullet in half with a sword" She paused "A bullet goes faster than sound just so you know. Anyway I asked him how he did it and he told me he did not know that he could just react. His mind analyzed the bullet and without his pesky thoughts to get in the way his instincts, his reflexes allowed him to cut it. I put the same principle in this variation of counterbalance, the spell touches my aura, my brain analyzes the mana within the spell and the first counter part of the spell begins." Ranma held up her hand and the white circle appeared "I expend the amount of mana used to cast the spell to catch it" the circle closed and vanished "Then I expend the same amount to crush it." She grinned at her awestruck followers "The trick is learning how to create a vessel for the spell, thats what the circle light is, and I sort of based it off of how items could contain magic. Then the other trick once you have mastered the original counterbalance is not to think about it. Let your mind do it on instinct, don't overthink it. Its about twice as costly as normal counterbalance but it more useful in combat. I think I'll call it Hanki(Reverse Demon)"

Ranma paused in thought "I think this could even stop the movements of weapon or a body part" her eyebrows furrowed in thought "The application is not all that different, I'm just stopping kinetic energy instead of mana energy." Another wicked grin stretched her face "I have to think on that."

Raphaelia and Akeno both said at the same time "Can you teach me that?"

Ranma flinched as her chest muscles tightened "Ow, sure once both of you get better at sensing magic."

Akeno frowned at that statement "You're good but not good enough yet trust me, and once you are I think we will use zephyr spells instead of thunderbots ow."

"Master" Raphaelia said worriedly "Lets get you to the spring"

"Its too early in the day for a bath"

Akeno literally picked her up like a child "No buts master, we are not going anywhere today so its fine."

Ranma made as if to struggle but the pain in her chest stopped her "I'll just use my ki to heal it"

"And waste Raphaelia ointment and massage skills" Akeno asked with a knowing look.

"That...that was a very good point….now put me down"

"Hmm no can do master."

Now if she had really tried to Ranma could have broken free and they both knew it but her scorched stomach hurt enough that she decided to let it be. Akeno and Raphaelia worked together to strip her of the rest of her clothing and plop her in the stream they were using for bathing purposes. Apparently while Akeno was teaching Raphaelia whatever the hell she was, Raphaelia had been teaching Akeno how to massage. Someone probably could have killed her five minutes later and Ranma would not have noticed. Hell if they had let her go she would have sanke and been carried away by the stream and would not have noticed.

"You were right" Akeno was saying as her hands did something to her to Ranma's calfs "Master becomes like a kitten."

Fear pinged through her body and Ranma thrashed on reflex "Baby, master she ment baby" Raphaelia assured her and gave Akeno a shushing motion. The priestess raised her eyebrows in question but complied.

There was motions in the water and Raphaelia glanced over and started in shock "Suu, what are you doing?"

Ranma turned her head, Suu was standing in the rushing water...standing in the water without any problem. In her relaxed state Ranma realized what was happened "You're using Ki to hold your form aren't you Suu?"

"Suu is" she answered "Suu wants to touch master too" Ten tentacles shot out of the water all around them and Ranma gave a very calm response to the situation "Oh shit"

Ten minutes later they were sitting around a fire, Raphaelia was leaning against Akeno shivering "It really was not that bad dear" the priestess was assuring her.

Ranma was on the other side of the fire with Suu who had shrunk to a comfortable size to fit in her lap. "It was horrible, I feel so violated"

Ranma blinked "She just tickled us, she even avoided the spots I told her to."

Raphaelia glared at Suu "I hate being tickled"

"It was not that bad" Ranma said.

"You're not ticklish" Akeno said in a slightly sulking manner.

Ranma smirked "That is true...Suu High five"

The slime girl formed a tentacle in the shape of a hand and slapped it against Ranma's, Raphaelia's mouth dropped open "You...you did that on purpose"

The martial artist lifted an eyebrow "Would I do that? Or is more likely that Suu would do that on her own, thank you Suu by the way."

The slime girl made a pleased sound, Ranma glanced over at Firo who was still fast asleep where she had fallen. She stopped when she could start to make out the words "Oh master are we doing it on the wagon?"

Even Akeno looked uncomfortable at that statement and they decided silently to pretend they never heard it, so Ranma changed the subject "Firo has reached a new plateau of power I think we will be in the capital by late tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Looking at her stats yes?"

"Wow" Raphaelia said eyes wide "The feather did all that?"

"Not just the feather, you saw her ki attack right?"

They nodded "She had reached the level of master in her martial arts."

"What! But how I'm better than her at it."

"To be a master of anything goes, you need to be able to copy you opponents moves and understand them. Filo copied my moko takabisha perfectly. That means she has reached the state where one can be considered master. Granted I still have to get her more skill but that is what happened."

Raphaelia frowned looking at her hands "I," She nodded "I guess I needed this" Standing up she nodded at Ranma "I'm gonna go train.;"

As she walked passed her Ranma said "You're almost there, I can tell you just need to find the right push."

As she went a safe distance away to start her training Ranma sat back and pulled out the dragon core starting to purify it once more. "Did you plan that?" Akeno asked watching her.

"I don't plan much of anything" Ranma said "But I did guess it would give her the proper motivation to reach that stage."

"I see shield hero well done." Akeno stood "Looks like I can fall behind either."

"I would not suggest it" Ranma agreed.

*fu*fu* "Well then Master I shall go practice.

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Evening came and Ranma went off for her own training letting the girls rest their weary bodies, she stood just outside of the sight range of the camp, her holy magic was coming along nicely but she still wanted to finish the expert tome of wind. Speaking of wind Ranma glanced at the bracelet on her wrist again and read it aloud "Come to me ruler of air, come to me I who bear your mark ask your aid and blessing, my name is" and it just ended. Seriously what was the point of this thing "My name is" who, who made this and why skip the last part "My name is" well she did not know the name its maker but she did know her name "Ranma Saotome" she said aloud .

The bracelet glowed green, there was a clicking sound as the clasp on it vanished, Ranma looked at it eyes wide "Oh shit"

Green light suffused her and shot skyward punching a hole in the gathering clouds and training them with a greenish light. For miles around birds erupted from their nests, animals from here hollows and shelters. Wind began to pick up swirling around her in a tornado of green light. All sound was reduced to nothing and between one moment and the next she martial artist was no longer standing on a trampled field.

Her feet touched a greenish substance, and she found herself standing on a platform of pure jade, there were nine thrones around her. They were each a different color and each made of a different valuable element. They were just off of the platform floating over a space of ever changing color that writhed and shifted with every movement of the head and body. Eight thrones were empty but the one she was facing was not, try to imagine the every free wind, the power of stones and hurricanes. Try to imagine the absolute force of nature that cannot be contained or controlled, the power of the infinite wind. Now try to imagine a form that is all that and more. A woman tall and powerful who wore nothing but a dress of green wind, hair clear as crystal and eyes as blue as the azure sky. Her bare legs were crossed as she gazed upon her and Ranma felt her knees weaken, this was a divine being. But this was more, this women was not a demi god, oh no this woman was a goddess and the difference in power would have been clear to even a child.

The women waved her hand lightly and Ranma's clothing vanished, wind wrapped around her in soft but unbreakable bonds lifting her up and pulling her close to the women of wind. Her hand touched the blotch of burn's that remained from her battle with Saffron and the touch was like the kiss of a hurricane. "You are maked mortal thou has slain one of the divine."

Ranma did not answer "Does though wish to try thine strength against mine"

*Gulp* "Um I like my atoms right where they are."

That was when she laughed and the sound of it was like and autumn breeze "Good answer hero of the shield." The hand moved to the bracelet on her wrist "I have been watching thou wondering when you would say the proper words."

"*gulp* you have?"

"Indeed it has been eon's since a mortal with enough power hath truly said the proper words, not even the hero's of old did so." A light smirk touched her face "The others will be frothing at the mouth when they hear of this."

Ranma did not like where this was going "It will be my power that echoes throughout the world as you will become my contractor."

Ranma flexed her body but nothing stirred "Um what?"

The women stood up and Ranma's body was lifted until it was eye level, when the women spoke again everything shook "LET THESE WORDS ECHO THROUGHOUT CREATION" Ranma was fairly sure they did "I AM SHINATOBE I AM THE QUEEN OF THE EVER FREE WIND. IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANCIENT OATHS, UNDER THE BLESSING OF THE ALMIGHTY I NAME THE RANMA SAOTOME MY CONTRACTOR, MY AVATAR, RECEIVE MY BLESSING HERO OF THE SHIELD" The goddess of the wind lord of the ever free kissed her on the forehead as the earth and heaven shook with its acknowledgment.

"As fire comes easily to your magic so to shall wind, whether in male or female you now stand with my blessing. The wind, the air, will not longer resist your movements for that is what my blessing will do. However should you decide to call upon me as is your right as my contractor then all the wind under heaven will be yours to command. Be wary however should you use this power your body will fail you mortal bodies were not meant to contain or channel this power."

Ranma could only listen in shock as the bonds of wind let her go "Let us see what you can do child, I will be watching with great interest.

Ranma fell and fell and then she opened her eyes on the trampled field the bracelet was gone and she could hear her companions rushing to her aid. Her status window appeared and the title "Blessed of the Wind" had been added.

Everything in her felt drained and her mind began to fuzz over as rational thought faded, yep time to sleep this off like a bad hangover. With that thought she let her consciousness go making a note that the universe was really overdoing its job now that she had met a freaking goddess.

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Well I am still having fun with this story, so look forward to Ranma reaching the capital of the beast men and getting his companions class up's.

I hope you enjoyed and have a good day Fanboy out.


	10. Chapter 10

Ranma of the Shield chapter 10

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"Ow, ow, ow," Ranma said as Akeno and Raphtalia pulled the thorns he could not reach out of his back. He had been doing some experimenting with just what the hell no wind resistance meant and severely underestimated how well he could control his speed.

To make a long story very short he had run into, through, and out of a monster. Said monster was essentially a magical briar patch full of thorns with the piercing quality. So he had then found himself stuck in every place imaginable with thorns that not only hurt like hell, but he was pretty sure were poisonous as well.

"Master, you really should watch where you're going."

"Tell me something I don't know. Ow."

Raphtalia seemed to flinch herself as she pulled out a thorn buried several inches into his shoulder. "That's the last one master."

Firo and Suu were both watching this scene. The Philo Rial was doing a sort of nervous prance at the sight of his blood and Suu…well she looked like she normally did. With a sigh of relief he closed the last wound in his shoulder by focusing Ki to that area, the Mana bar drained and the flesh healed.

"Will master ride in the wagon now?" Firo said. There was something about her tone that made it sound like a command more than a question.

But fortunately for her Ranma did not want to repeat what had happened. He glanced behind him hatefully at the magical briar patch. It was in his nature right now to burn the thing to a crisp but as Akeno had patiently explained to him, that sort of thing was very necessary. Apparently that kind of monster did not appear unless the smaller breeds of animals and monsters were in danger of going extinct. Small things made their home among it under the protection of its magical thorns and the predators starved off to a reasonable amount. The briar patch would than disappear and the cycle would begin again next year. That was kind of cool in a way but not helpful to his desire to turn that area into a wasteland. Which in and of itself was also a problem because now he could do that, granted he could have done that before he came here, it was just now he could do it with several well placed anger fed spells.

"Note to self, don't become one of those people. I can handle this power, I know I can…I hope I can."

So to Firo's immense relief Ranma took his place on the wagon and she took off at nearly twice the speed she had managed before she became a master and a…a queen in training? He did not know what the feather meant but her stat change was amazing. Thank god for Suu though, the poor slime had to keep the whole of her focus on keeping the wagon together otherwise Firo's speed and strength would have pulverized it to splinters. Perhaps he should get Oyaji to make her a wagon of steel.

About midday they started to see people on the road. At first it was only one or two whom they went by so fast that it hardly even mattered. But, as expected, once they were about seven miles from the capital traffic began to pick up. Like Melromarc most of the surrounding land was farm land. Several areas were set aside for low level monsters to thrive in but other than that, farms as far as the eye could see.

The working farm hands hardly spared them a glance; they had the look of men too tired to care of such nonsense as racism. The other beastmen who were on the road were another matter entirely. He had his shield hidden under one of Akeno's spare cloaks and said priestess was wearing her travel garb as well, so there was no mark or clue about them that said he should be respected despite being human.

Most gave him a healthy glare of distrust; others clearly showed their unhappiness with a human's presence with rude gestures. One man went so far as to spit on the wagon, Firo had then punted him eighty four feet away meaning Ranma had to heal his broken spine to keep him alive. Needless to say no one had done anything similar after that.

Akeno was sitting beside him, a look of melancholy on her face. "Don't let it get to you," Ranma said.

"Oh no master it does not bother me that much," she paused, "It's just that the city I served in, everyone there looked at me as one of their own." She gestured at a boy who threw a rock at the wagon his ears standing on end in anger. Firo glanced at him and then away doing nothing, Ranma guessed that even she would not hit a child.

"It saddens me to see so much bad blood between peoples, they don't even know you. If they did they would worship the ground you stood on."

Ranma shrugged, "It's more honest this way, perhaps it will give them something to think about when they find out."

"Perhaps, but they could simply say that the Shield is different, a paragon of humanity and not the same."

"My personal thoughts on the matter are that as long as you enslave people of another race there will be no end to bad blood. Hell I bet a fourth of these people have real grievances with humans and vise versa."

Akeno shrugged, "True, several times our county has made overtures to Melromarc about trying to put an end to it, at least among our two countries. But theQueen, as strong as she is, does not have the political support to do such a thing. It does not help that her husband is dead set against us."

Ranma's ears perked up, "The king has what?"

"You did not know?"

"Know what?"

"He hates us. I don't know why but he has a driving hate for this nation and its people, he actually killed our last king in single combat."

Well this was turning out to be an enlightening experience. Mental note, since he was quite sure nobility on this world were strong, that despite all appearances, the king just might be hiding some power.

"Well that puts things in a new light, I'm just not sure how."

"What do you mean?"

"Well the king hates me too and someone I trust implied that it might not be because of what I thought it was." He frowned looking skyward, "I wonder if there is any connection as to how the beastmen treat the Shield and his hatred, though that would be extremely petty."

"Humans, beastmen, the word petty can define many," her voice was uncharacteristically bitter and he looked over concerned. The look and tone vanished as she realized what he was seeing. A smirk so perfect it must have been fake made it across her face and she leaned into him all sensually, "What are you looking at master?"

The hint of lust in her voice was real but everything else about it was an act. So she was covering something she did not want him to see…oh well that was not his business. He made a decent show of being embarrassed and looked away letting her have time to recompose herself. But that did beg the question, how much of her teasing was real and how much was a defense mechanism? He blinked at himself, was he actually getting better at understanding females?…Nah.

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The capital city of Cita was as impressive as a capital should be. Walls lined the city with gates wrought of metal instead of wood, those must be a bitch to open and close, and well made stone streets that had the look of constant maintenance.

The guards at the gate did not move to stop most of the beastmen walking through but as soon as they spotted him they began to move. Akeno however calmly raised a gold medallion about the size of her palm with a shield emblazoned on it. The guards eyes widened but their movement stopped and they were allowed to pass uncontested. However Ranma noted a…a c-c-cat l-l-like beastmen being sent towards the citadel in the middle of the city.

The hostility that had been present outside the city was nearly a palpable force inside, only by virtue of Firo's glare and Akeno's visible bows were they able to make it to their destination. It was a building very similar to the one containing the Dragon Hourglass of Melromarc. "I thought we needed the King's permission?" he asked as everyone got down

Akeno rolled her eyes "Don't worry I have special permission."

Ranma noted that Firo transformed into her human form. And Suu…he had to blink at that…Suu appeared like she was an identical twin of Firo. Same hair, face, eyes, the only real and striking difference was that her yellow and green feeler was still on the top of the head where Firo's ahoge should have been. The only one among them who was not surprised at that was Firo herself.

Guess Suu had showed her before. Akeno led them inside and just like the one in human lands there was a nun like women sitting at a reception desk, the only difference was she had dog ears hanging down the side of her face.

Her look was neutral for one watching a human walk into their sacred space, before she could say anything however Akeno pulled back her hood. "Miko-sama," the nun said instantly though her eyes went wide with shock.

"Casandra," Akeno answered, "I am here to make use of the Dragon Hourglass, my companions have more than proved themselves worthy to use it." As she was saying this she once again held up the emblem that had got them past the gate.

The nun looked like she wanted to say something but bit her tongue and nodded, "As you wish Miko-sama."

She led them to the central chamber. While they were on the way Ranma asked quietly, "Miko-sama?"

Akeno shrugged, "Some people call me that, my predecessor preferred it."

Looking over at Raphtalia he noted the barely contained excitement in her body, the tense muscles, the manic grin she was desperately suppressing. It seemed the idea of an increase in her power was pleasurable, good for her.

There was little to no difference in the Dragon Hourglass of Silt Welt, the art on the walls of the sanctum were another matter. The intricate paintings were of beastmen warriors warring against humanity and crushing them. It might have been just an art piece but it seemed to resonate with what he had seen in the city and elsewhere. *Sigh* The end of the world could be upon them and old hate still festered with both sights. He once again came to the conclusion that mortals as a whole sucked even if people by themselves were awesome.

Akeno nodded to the nun, "I will take it from here."

The women bowed and left swiftly. The priestess walked up to the hourglass and waved her hand as words of power filled the air. She took a knife out and drew it across her hand, blood dribbled out but as it fell her words of magic reached a crescendo. The moment the blood hit a groove in the floor that he had not noticed it turned gold. Then it grew as magic increased its volume and mass, creating an intricate magic circle in front of the hourglass.

"Place your hand on the hourglass and concentrate, the choice of class should come up." Raphtalia went up first stepping into the circle and placing her hand on the hourglass. "Now focus, call out the power."

Raphtalia closed her eyes and her breathing stilled, for a moment nothing happened and a silence filled the room. Then a wave of shadow pulsed from the katana at her hip, darkening the area around them. Gold light shimmered forth from the hourglass, spinning and whirling as shadow crawled up out of the blade to meet it. Her hair turned a darker shade of brown and black markings crawled their way up her hand and twisted into a symbol he had never seen before.

A status window appears in front of him. "Your student Raphtalia has received a class up."

Class: Blade Dancer

Special Ability: Enchantment: Hell Blaze - Imbues her sword with fire said to be like that of the fires of hell. Represses regeneration, wounds caused by HellBlaze are harder to heal and always leave a scar. Hell Blaze is not affected by magic barriers or damage reduction.

Cast time: Five seconds

Duration: Drains Mana to keep itself going, when the user runs out so do the flames.

Raphtalia glanced at herself, hand moving to her hair and her arm. From what he could see her stats had simply doubled giving her a huge power up. "Was this you're doing Resita?" she asked then paused tilting her head, "Of course it was."

"You look good Raphtalia," he told her. The darkened hair gave her something of a powerful presence, or perhaps that was her aura which had also grown darker. Not evil of course just darker. "Firo wants to go next! Firo wants to go next!" the girl shouted while jumping up and down.

"No ones stopping you," Ranma said.

"Yay, Firo wants to spit poison!"

Ranma said nothing, just gulped a little. She happily went into the circle but no sooner had she placed her hand on the hourglass then something happened. Her ahoge started glowing and the gold of the circle rose to meet the surprised girl.

"But Firo did not do any…" she was cut off as a status screen appears showing that her status had doubled.

Class: Philo Rial Queen

Special Ability: "Wouldn't you like to know." -Fitora

A message from the Philo Rial Queen in his stats bar? "…ok why is she messing with me." Ranma asked to no one as Firo stomped her foot in frustration. "Firo wanted to spit poison," she sulked.

Ranma patted her hand gently, "Its ok, me thinks this class will be a blessing in disguise."

*Humph* was the only noise Firo made as annoyance at what had happened warred with the sensation of someone rubbing her head.

"Suu's turn," the Slime girl said as she walked forward in her Firo guise, like the others the gold of the circle spiraled around her.

Class: ?

Special Ability: Kaiju Form

Effect: ?

Duration: ?

"I don't know if I like the sound that," Ranma said, seeing the ability but not what it did. "but something tells me I should not have her try it in the middle of city."

Suu smiled at him, "All done master."

"Suu?"

"Yes?"

"Don't try that ability while we are in the city."

"Why not?" she asked tilting her head.

"Because," Ranma stopped. "Wait…you're messing with me."

"Why would Suu do that master?" As she said this one of her tentacles that he had not noticed smacked him on the behind.

"Ow!"

Akeno looked over them, "I have never seen such a strange set of class ups before."

Raphtalia had drawn her sword and looked ready to test out her ability. "Not here," Ranma said. "Please, we don't want to cause any property damage. I don't need my wrecking crew reputation to come back and haunt me."

"Your what master?"

"Never mind."

Akeno glanced out of the room, "No doubt Cassandra has gone to inform her superiors that I am making use of the Dragon Hourglass. I'd give it two hours before it reaches the King's ear and he sends people to inquire as to why."

Ranma frowned, "I don't have good luck with Kings so far."

Raphtalia glanced at him, "Given how they nearly worship the Shield Hero I think things might turn out differently."

That was true but not quite as comforting as it should have been. "I think we'll leave now, I need time to see what you girls can do."

He walked up to the Hourglass to get a better look at it, across his status bar a message appeared, "Do you wish to register for the Silt Welt wave?" Next to that it gave a time as to when the wave would arrive. One week after the wave in Melromarc apparently, Ranma clicked accept on it and another message appeared. "Do you wish to delete your registration for the Melromarc wave?"

"No," he said, clicking the icon.

"Are you sure you wish to fight in two waves?"

He clicked yes again, "Registration accepted."

Nodding to himself he turned away from the Hourglass, more fighting was good fighting. Akeno looked at him strangely as Firo and Suu both leapt onto his back. Raphtalia asked, "You spaced out, what did you just do?"

"Signed up to help with the wave here."

Akeno's mouth dropped open in shock, "Truly?"

The martial artist nodded, "Ya."

They walked out of the temple as she gathered her thoughts. "Why, why would you put yourself in further danger so easily."

"Fighting waves is what I was drawn here for." A wry smile made its way across his face, "Perhaps this was what I was born to do."

Firo changed back into demon form while Suu engulfed the wagon to keep Firo's strength from tearing it apart. Akeno and Raphtalia hopped on, "Master can you keep me from getting sick, I want to sit up here today."

"Sure."

Raphtalia grabbed his hand in a very intimate way, such contact would allow his Ki to keep her from getting motion sickness. But he was well aware of what the action signified. Shaking his head Ranma glanced at Firo, "Take us a few miles away from the city, I want a large area with good leveled monsters to practice on."

"Yes," Firo said happily, "Training with master."

Yes training, training made life as a martial artist worth living.

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He was debating on whether to have Suu test her class ability, over the day each girl had gone off on their own to kill monsters and level. He spent the day trying to control the fact that he no longer had to deal with air friction. Things like no terminal velocity do not sound like problems but with his leaps going higher than ever the fact that he kept increasing in speed until he hit the earth was something to get used to.

Ranma felt like a five year old leaning to run again as he tripped into a painful roll that carved a furrow in the ground. It was really strange at how much one depended on a force they never thought about only to find everything changed when it was gone. This would make him stronger and both of his sides would benefit, but first he would have to master it.

To master this power however, pain would be required as he made mistake after mistake in trying to take advantage of this blessing.

"Is master ok?" Suu asked standing over him. He pulled his face out of the ground and spit out some dirt and blood. "I'm fine Suu, thank you."

There was the sound of thunder in the distance and he could vaguely feel Akeno's aura pulsing as she killed several monsters in the area. He popped his shoulder back into place with a hiss of pain. "Suu you need to go train, the wave is coming soon enough." The slime gave him a worried look but with a nod obeyed his orders.

Man running without air resistance was harder than he thought; darkness was falling when he began to make his way back to camp. Thanks to his Ki nothing was broken or badly damaged but the pain of learning was a harsh master.

About a mile from his camp he noted smoke trailing towards the sky, it looked like a campfire and it was not far away from his own. With a shrug he made his way over in a silent manner, curious as who was camping this close to them.

"Now now boy, think this over nice and slow," a voice said.

A child's voice answered, "Let her go or I'll kill you."

There were several gruff laughs, "Really? How are you going to do that? The way I see it I have a knife at this beast brat's throat and if you want her to live you do as I say."

Wow, he was pissed off just listening. Staying low, covered by the steroid big wheat plants that grew on this landscape, he got close enough to see what was going on. It was humans of course, there were about eight of them. They were dressed in mercenary gear and most had swords and shields with decent armor. Three of them were already in bed rolls ignoring what was happening, four were lounging around and making jeers at the child who had spoken.

Said child looked to be about twelve years old, he was a bit taller than normal with white and black hair in equal measure. He….he had….c-cat ears and t-tail that lashed about in his rage. The man he was focused on was dressed as a mage, staff and everything. About five feet away from him was another child. He thought it was a she but he could not tell, the child was covered in bandages that went from her legs to her head, only her blind eyes were left uncovered. The child's hair was a light brown and her c-cat e-ears and t-tail were the same as the boy's.

Floating next to her neck is a jagged shard of ice that the mage manipulated by moving his fingers. "Now listen boy, you are a Hakuko, do you know how good a price you will fetch?"

"Let her go," the boy groaned.

"I think not. You see I was not lying to you, I don't know if the place where we are going has a cure for your sister, they might."

Normally anger would be singing in his blood at this sight but there was a major problem, even the sight of c-cat like features was setting off his fear response. If he ran out there it would without a doubt result in the Neko-ken and that would be bad, very bad.

But they were children in danger and there was no way in heaven or hell he was not helping them, plus slave traders pissed him off immensely. What the hell were they doing in Silt Welt anyway? After considering it for a moment it occurred to him, high risk, high reward. Sneak into the land of the beastmen, find and take the rarer ones for immense profit.

The boy went to his knees, head down, two of the four men with armor went to tie him up. "Good boy," the mage said with a laugh. No stirring of air warned him, only the choked cry of one of the men caused to mage to whirl just in time to see Ranma pick up the girl. At his side the dagger of ice was shattered to pieces. "Wha…" he started to say as everyone turned.

The boy vanished like an illusion appearing in front of the kneeling boy. The two armored men around him let out cries of agony as they were sent flying into the air, their armor dented inward by an immense force.

The boy looked up in shock as cold fell around everyone in the camp and looked upon his rescuer, a human with eyes empty of anything that resembled emotion. The mage reacted, "We are under attack!"

The entire camp reacted, men rising to their feet and with the girl in his left arm he only had his right arm to do battle. The shield morphed into the Diamond Shard and the men pulled to a stop at the sight, "Attack!" the mage ordered, "What the hell are you doing?

The first one to reach him was fully armored with sword and shield readied, Ranma kicked out, ignoring the upper body, his foot catching the man on the shin and shattering it to pieces. The next two arrived in concert attempting to overwhelm him. With an almost casual air Ranma kicked at the man on the ground, there was a shattering sound and a scream of metal as Ranma launched the now dead body into the two of them, the force knocking them flat.

That left three more to deal with, the mage was chanting a spell and the other two men, ones who had been in their bed rolls, were not ready to fight. One was flailing for his sword when the beastboy tackled him. Ranma did not feel surprise in the soul of ice, the power protecting him from his fear of cats right now.

The boy was really strong as he pounded the man into the earth and kept on pounding until he stopped moving.

The other man moved to protect his comrade, sword in hand ready to stab the child in the back. "No," the girl hoarsely whispered as if she could see without her eyes. Ranma raised the Diamond Shard shield and fired, the razor sharp diamond hit the man's head with the same force as a fifty caliber sniper rifle with similar results.

The mage finished his spell in a panic, "Fireball!" he screamed.

Turning his hand up he let out a breath, a small circle of white expanded and condensed in his hand and the fireball simply vanished, crushed by the power of Hanki his personal form of counterbalance . "Mercy," the man cried but it was too late, the Shield Hero appeared behind him hand blurring the man went to his knees and fell over, eyes rolling into the back of his head. The only two alive were unconscious under the weight of their dead comrades and there would not be a point in taking them out.

Ranma turned to the boy and he flinched at the emptiness in his gaze. "Follow," he ordered.

The girl in his arms coughed and the boy flinched at it, Ranma turned and walked at a slow pace.

"Wait," he called, "where are you taking my sister?" He grabbed at his shirt and tried to pull him to a stop but only ended up being dragged along by the man.

"Camp," Ranma said in that empty tone. He needed to keep up the soul of ice, at least until they could get these cat parts covered or hidden.

"We don't need your help human," the boy snarled and Ranma could not really blame him but now was not the time.

"Fohl," the girl said in a quiet voice.

The boy stiffened even as he was being dragged along. "This one is good, even under the ice that coats his power he burns warm."

If he had not been in the Soul of Ice that would have made his eyebrows raise up, not many could sense Ki that well, in fact he could count the number of people he knew who could do that on one hand. Fohl quieted at her words though he still glared at Ranma behind his back.

"Master," Raphtalia said as he walked back into camp. "I made…" she trailed off at seeing what he was holding.

Akeno blinked, "What are children doing out here?"

"Slave traders," Ranma said in his ice cold tone.

Firo and Suu both flinched at his tone, "Is Master mad?'

"No, Soul of Ice ignores anger as well."

Raphtalia gasped, "Oh I see." She muttered a spell and light bent and twisted around the ear's and tail's of the two children causing them to vanish.

Dropping the Soul of Ice Ranma took in a deep breath, "Oh thank god," he pointed at the beastgirl, "I am doubling your pay."

"You don't pay me," she giggled.

"Tripling it then."

Firo in her human child form bounced up to him, "Who is that?"

The girl let out another ragged cough, "What's wrong with her?" he said to the boy.

Said boy was taking in the camp around him looking as if he did not know what to say, there was a beastgirl, a winged humanoid, a slime in human shape, a girl who looked like a human but did not smell like one and the human who saved him. Said human now had emotion in his voice despite not having any of the sort on the way here.

Ranma snapped his fingers in front of the boy, "Hey, what is wrong with her?"

Fohl looked so disoriented that he answered, "She's sick, a hereditary illness, she cannot see or walk, her body is covered in sores and she is not expected to live long."

The girl spoke in a strained voice, "Strong voice…gentle voice," the girl said, "Will you take care of my brother even if you can't help me?"

"I told you I was going to cure you," the boy said, "Don't give up on me now."

Akeno was already pulling out a bed roll and Raphtalia went to their packs and pulled out several Mana potions and a flask of water. Ranma walked over to the bedroll and gently set her down. "I'm Ranma, Ranma Saotome." He gently laid his hand on her bandaged forehead, "What is your name?"

"Atlas," the child said in a weak voice.

"Well Atlas I am going to see if I can help you."

"What?" Fohl asked.

Ranma smiled, "A martial artist protects the weak."

"I don't understand."

He ignored that and took the Mana potions and one after the other chugged them down with gusto, his Mana restored he poured the water over his head. Fohl fell back on his butt in surprise as the male he had followed became female.

"Who are you?"

The shield changed to the Reiki Shield and Ranma knelt over the girl, gently touching her head and heart she closed her eyes and began to work. And holy shit there was a lot of damage, her Ki entered the child's body scanning it to find the damage. The better question would have been what part was not damaged in some way. Starting at her heart the Ki began the change, destroy, and heal. Waves of light pulsed off of her body, as white light crawled off her arms Atlas took in a sharp breath.

"It's so warm," she whispered.

Her lungs were next, then her intestinal tract, then everything else down to the bone and skin. Every cell in her body starting from the heart was restored and built anew by the Hero of the Shield. Even on a body as small as this it took everything, about three fourths of the way through she ran out of Mana and began to draw on her own life.

Blood began to flow from her mouth, eyes, and ears, "Master" he heard the girls call vaguely but it did not matter. She forced more of her very life into the ability and the blood began to rise up and spin around her body. More, more she needed more, not only to heal this but destroy the very possibility that it would occur again in future generations.

This was what she loved even in the pain, healing a child was the greatest act she could think off. Everything had to be healed to be made better, made anew. Her eyes were last, the glassy orbs vanished under the light of Ranma's Ki, replaced with shining green.

And the first thing this child saw in her life, an image that would stay forever, was the Shield Hero, a crimson haired angel with hands that banished pain, and brought light to her world of darkness.

Ranma leaned back, the light fading from her hands. Vaguely she could see her health hovering at just over one percent. Her body trembled as she fell to the side a paralyzing feeling creeping over her body. "Master!" Raphtalia cried.

"Turn me back into guy," she muttered before falling unconscious.

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Someone must have healed her with magic, probably Akeno as she was the only one among them who knew healing spells. Still her…oh his body, nice they listened to him. His body ached like a no other, his Ki was low right now and he needed at least a few days for it to be restored.

Still totally worth it. He sat up shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight, there was a form next to him. She was absolutely lovely in a doll sort of way, she wore one of Raphtalia's nightshirts that covered her body down to the ankles. Her skin was smooth and pale even under the heavy sunlight, a single bandage was around her eyes.  
Her head turned to him as he sat up, he could see Firo trying to get the boy to play with her. He, for his part, desperately tried to get away from the giant bird while Firo thought it was a game of tag and chased the poor kid. Akeno and Raphtalia were sitting in sight of the camp doing their own training and Suu was currently supporting his back having used herself as a pillow.

"They told me you're the Shield Hero," the girl said quietly.

"I am."

"I felt you change me, I felt your life reshape my body, what did you do?"

"Everything that was damaged I replaced with a copy of my own," he frowned. "Did I mess up the eyes?"

"No Shield Hero."

"Ranma, please call me Ranma."

"My eyes are fine its just, I am not used to the light," a single tear went down her cheek. "The colors are so beautiful."

"I'm glad." Ranma leaned back letting out a breath. "So what's your story Atlas, why were you out here and why were you so sick?"

"Its not that complicated," she said. "Fohl could not pay for my medical expenses, our parents were dead and debt was piling up. The man you killed had promised that he might know of a way to cure me, if Fohl sold himself and me into slavery." She sighed, "They were lying of course and we only found out moments before you showed up."

She shrugged, "It's not really that uncommon of a story for children after the war."

"Master!" Firo squawked joyously, prancing around him in her bird form. Ranma let out a groan and forced himself to his unsteady feet. Suu flooded to either side of him acting as a support. "I am glad to have helped you Atlas." He reached down with Suu's help and picked her up off the ground. Something furry pressed against his arm but as long as her tail was invisible it could have been anything else other than a cat's tail. Since he could not see it, he could not know. Despite the fact his Ki and Mana were severely weakened he did have something he could try.

"A… wind." he said sort of lamely. "Can you give us some shade?"

"Master are you ok?" Filo asked in the tone of voice you used with spooked horses.

A cloud moved over the sun and shade blanketed the area. "Thanks," Ranma called out. He then gently removed the bandage from around the girl's eyes.

"Hey, put her down!" Fohl shouted as he finally made it back to camp. The boy's body was trembling from exhaustion but he sounded ready to take on the world. There was potential in that, Ranma thought. "Fohl," Atlas said gently.

The boy let out a tiger like growl that set Ranma's body to twitching, he turned his head away from the boy. "Open your eyes," Ranma told the girl.

Slowly she did revealing the green eyes that matched his own. Tears formed naturally in response to the stimuli that she was not used to, however the shade was enough that it was possible. The poor girl seemed a little overloaded by the sensory input as colors and pictures that she had never seen invaded her sight.

"You were different," she managed to gasp out as she shut her eyes. "You're not the same."

Fohl walked up, eyes filled with anger, and Ranma almost laughed as he handed the boy his sister. "That is part of a curse I am under you see." His stomach growled.

Right, he had not eaten in a while. "Master," Raphtalia said as her lovely form appeared in his vision, "You're up."

"Ya but," his stomach made an even louder noise. "I'm starving," he whined.

***  
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"My my master, you certainly look comfortable with her," Akeno said with a lazy smirk.

He turned a blunt gaze on the Priestess, "Excuse me?"

"Well, you have not objected to her."

He had been telling the bother and sister about his story and how he wound up here, however during that time Atlas had clambered onto his lap and currently looked very comfortable. Fohl had not approved but the girl had shushed him with a single look.

"How old are you?" he asked Atlas.

"10."

He looked back up at Akeno, "She's 10 years old."

The priestess shrugged, "In point of fact, so is she." With her hand she pointed at Raphtalia who looked quite unhappy with the state of his lap.

"That's…but…point taken." He slumped in defeat.

Atlas's expression did not change but he was quite sure he felt Ki flare around her in a wave of irritation. He blinked at that, hard. So far no one and nothing that he had encountered had used Ki naturally. Sure he had taught it to his party members but never had he felt it like this. Atlas seemed to sense his gaze and looked up, her doll like features calm. "Whats wrong Ranma?"

He shook his head, "Nothing." He glanced at the boy, "What do you plan on doing now?"

Before he could answer Atlas said, "We are staying here."

"Oh no you're not" Ranma said. "There's a war on and I am part of it, its no place for…"

"Train us then, you know how beastmen grow."

"No no no, I do not recruit children to fight my battles."

The girl spoke in a small voice, "We have no one to go back too, they are all gone."

….motherfucker… he thought.

"Will you give us a chance?" she asked, "See if we have potential?"

A way out, perfect. "All right, impress me."

He felt kind of bad telling this to a girl who until recently had literally been unable to move but with the wave approaching he did not have time for subtlety. Not that he was ever good at that anyway. Atlas got up, turned around, and hit him lightly just over the heart.

The flare of Ki warned him at the last second but his sore and tired body was not up to par and he was not in time to block the blow. He did gather what Ki he had to his chest, otherwise her strike, a strike aimed right at one of his pressure points, would have knocked him clean out.

It stirred him for a moment as the girl looked from her hand to his heart in surprise. "It didn't work?"

It took him a moment to get his mouth moving again. "Where did you learn that?"

She blinked in surprise, "Learn what?"

"That pressure point, that Ki strike."

The child just tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

He frowned, "Why did you do that, why strike there?"

"Because that is where a lot of your chi is focused, I thought if I disrupted it that you would fall down."

"Chi," Ranma muttered, "same damn thing."

But the first part of her sentence caught his attention. "You can sense where my Ki is focused?"

"Ki?"

"Chi," he corrected himself.

She nodded, "Yes, and if I stare hard enough I can see it too."

"Really?" Ranma asked.

"Why is it going backwards?" she asked suddenly, eyes locked on his body. "It disappeared… now its spinning in circles?"

"Holy hell you really can see it." Ranma gasped.

"How did you do that to you chi?" she asked.

"What are you two talking about?" Fohl asked exasperated. Akeno, Firo and Raphtalia all looked like they were agreeing with his statement. "Um…" Ranma said. How in the hell could he pass up the chance to train someone with a unique gift like hers? Hell maybe he could copy it as well as usher in a new talent into the world of martial arts. "It means we have two new party members."

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"Come on Fohl you have seventy more in you, I know it." The beastkid growled at him, sweat beading down his face. To both sides of him all the other girls in the party were doing pushups with ease, even his sister. Of course since he had replaced every muscle and bone in her body with a copy of his own, she had the distinct advantage of going from atrophy to peak physical condition in the space of two minutes.

Of course her brother did not know this and Ranma certainly had not bothered to inform him, frustration was a great tool in pushing someone past their limits.

It had been four days and he was still in recovery, although Suu no longer needed to support him so that was a plus. However he was not in shape to do any of his normal training so he made do with running everyone else's.

Of course now a days Raphtalia could run her own training, especially with her living weapon of a blade giving her advice on how to do better. Firo was spending lots of time bulking up as of late, Ranma would often see her running over the now mostly trampled giant wheat, dragging eight or nine boulders of various sizes behind her. As a result her strength had gone up a bit in these past few days.

Akeno did her own thing mostly but she did join the morning and evening workouts. Ranma suspected it was because she knew the way he had to force himself not to stare at her swinging chest when she did so. Seriously one moment she was snappy and sassy, the next she was sultry and seductive, but when he had asked her for a moment in private she would become coy and mysterious. It sent his head for a loop to the point where he would simply lay on Raphtalia's lap and enjoy the fact that the girl was straightforward and honest.

Suu. well, she was Suu and Suu did what Suu wanted to do, end of story. Granted he had been working on a few innovations on how her battle shape shifting could be applied and he could not wait to see the results in battle.

Fohl, well the kid was a treat to teach. It was like watching a mini him learn martial arts. Seriously he and the kid had so much in common except for the thankfully invisible cat ears and tail. The boy had drive and determination, strong traits that were matched by the boy's dislike of him. He did not have any special gifts for the art but he made up for it in dedication. At first the boy had been hesitant to learn anything from him out of sheer racist principle. Granted the boy had good reason not to like humans so Ranma did not hold that against him. However the boy acquiesced after a conversion with his sister in private, whatever was said Ranma was sure he was better off not knowing. In fact he worried that his full scale remodeling of her biological structure might have affected her in ways he did not account for…nah couldn't be.

Anyway whatever else the boy thought of him he had drive and even now, with his entire body trembling with exhaustion, he was giving seventy more pushups. His build was strong, child though he was the beastmen were not to be underestimated. Right now Ranma was working on turning the boy's top heavy build into that of a warrior and thanks to the leveling system and his training it was working at speeds that were unreal. Seriously he wished his training was this easy and simple but then again anything that involved Neko-ken he would have rather avoided. Damn he was thinking about cats a lot recently, no no, bad Ranma.

Atlas, well where should he start with her? It had taken him three minutes of working with her to realize something very important. The girl was a freakin' genius, like left him in the dust level genius. Where he could take a few hours of study and practice to copy a move this girl had Suu levels of coping ability and what was more he did not have to spend time making her understand it. It was crazy insane what she could do, for example because he had used Reiki on her, she had copied it. Right now she as a ten year old beast girl could use that ability. It helped that what she called chi was the exact same thing as his Ki so that made things easier. His physical movements that he showed her were copied with the same ease, it was rather terrifying and invigorating to be teaching someone like her.

The two of them had gained four levels through pure training and the system had acknowledged both of them as his students. The funny part of that was he was now getting bonuses from being a teacher, under his status effects he had a new title.

Sensei: Through either teaching talented students or teaching many students you are now acknowledged as a teacher of the martial arts.

Stat Bonus: + 10 to all stats

Aura: If students are within one hundred yards of you they gain a +10 enhancement bonus to their stats and damage.

So that was cool. He glanced down at his students, "Alright, that's enough," he said as Fohl collapsed into a gasping heap and everyone else stood up with ease. Ranma glanced up at the falling sun, "You all worked hard today, and I'm proud of you." He glanced at Atlas, "Remember, no Ki abilities besides your hand strikes."

The child smiled at him widely, "Yes Ranma."

Man if felt good to be called by your own name once in a while, a fact that Raphtalia and Akeno were definitely exploiting. Said Priestess glanced at him, "Do you still want to learn magic today master?"

Ranma nodded, "In a little bit." He touched his side, "Body's still yelling at me for moving."

Raphtalia made a growling sound, "Why are you moving then?"

He cracked his neck, "Because waiting would be boring and I've been through so much worse it's not even funny."

Fohl stood up unsteadily. "You're worse than a slave driver," he moaned.

Ranma's eyes sparkled. "Atlas, could you carry your brother back to camp, it looks like he can't walk."

The boy's eyes went wide, "No!" he snarled and his legs stopped shaking. Glaring at him with pure venom, "I can walk myself!"

Ranma did not let himself laugh as the boy did that bumping thing some male's did to try and establish dominance. It did not have any effect but it was funny as hell. Atlas thought so too and her laugh was like crystal bells. Fohl limped back to camp muttering dark things about gender benders.

Raphtalia glanced at Suu who was moving over to Ranma's side. "My turn," she said calmly. The slime nodded and the girl moved to his side and put his hand over her shoulder letting him lean on it. "Thank you," he said, enjoying the way her form felt beside him.

Akeno rolled her eyes as she gave him a small smile, no doubt she knew exactly what he was thinking, Raphtalia did not seem to see or care what the other girl was doing. She sat him down next to the fire where some stew was cooking.

"You do not need to push yourself master, there will be battle in ten days and you need to be at your best."

Ranma shrugged, "I'll be good in about three days. Once my Ki fully returns I'll be good in hours."

"Your still human master, still mortal, you can allow yourself some rest."

"What do you think I'm doing, learning magic without doing it is rest."

The girl sighed, "Yes master."

Atlas served everyone their bowls of stew and took a spot next to him. They ate in silence for the first several minutes savoring the meal. Ranma had been quite proud of how easy all the cooking bonus shields had helped him in making it.

Considering that when he first came to this world all he knew was martial arts, martial arts and even more martial arts, with barely anything else in his skill repertoire, now he could cook and knew something of medicine. Granted the medicine was outshone by his lay of hands but he wondered if it gave him a bonus?

He thought about that for a bit when in front of his eyes the system appeared with a message.

"Hybrid skill created your knowledge of the body, anatomy and medicinal lore has granted you new insight into the mortal body. Add martial arts and medicine levels to Reiki use."

Ranma blinked, that was cool, he should try to think of things like this more often but there seemed to be a bend to it. What he did had to make sense, and he had to demonstrate that it could work, like when he healed Atlas.

"Ranma?" the small beast girl asked.

"Hm?"

"How do you get your chi…Ki to heal you like that?"

Her green eyes were distant as she looked at him, as if she could see through him. "Training, its one of the first things students like me are taught." He waved a hand to all of them, "I already taught you how to do it."

That got a round of surprised looks. "It's how you use your body's Ki, learn it the right way and it will automatically start doing it by itself. You just see it clear in me because I have had years to perfect it."

Atlas looked at herself and stayed like that for a few moments. "Oh I see." Her eyes looked back up at him full of admiration, "Thank you."

Fohl growled but said nothing as every female eye glared at him even his sister, Ranma made a note to not give the kid too hard a time. But at least this environment would toughen him up or teach him when to hold his tongue.

Ranma himself had chosen the toughen up route as he still had not learned to keep his mouth shut sometimes.

"Leave the kid alone," he chuckled, "I can take some aggression. It's good for kids his age to let out some aggression now and then."

"I've been working for the past five years, I am not a kid," the boy snapped out.

Ranma rolled his eyes "Just because you are more competent than a lot of adults I know does not make you one of them. You have a few years left to…." He glanced at Raphtalia, "Excuse me you have twenty five or so levels left of childhood."

That thought hit him like a bomb. "Crap, you two do know what will happen if you level right?"

Both beastman kids gave him a duh expression and nodded, "Right, of course you do."

Akeno giggled at the scene while Suu patted him on the head in a motherly fashion. Different world different rules he mused, but on the bright side if Atlas grew up she could outgrow the childish crush anyone could see on her face.

No doubt with sudden increase in maturity she would look upon his situation and shake her head, hell maybe both kids would come to look at him as a mentor, wouldn't that be something. He leaned back into Suu, who formed behind his back, and smiled as he looked over his companions.

Ya, Atlas would grow out it, and that girl was going to be hellova strong with her ability. And if he played his cards right and nurtured her brother's feelings of rivalry towards him just enough to push him but not enough to consume him, Ranma felt that he could make her bother incredibly strong as well. I mean look at Raphtalia and Firo, if they were any indication he was doing something right with the training.

Speaking of Firo the demon was now in her child from and was standing in front of him, her hands on her sides, eyes flashing, ahoge bobbing up and down. "Firo wants to put master's head on her lap too," she announced to god and everyone.

Ranma sighed but could not help feeling warmth spread through him, ya this was a place he could get used to. This was a place where he wanted to stay, this was the companionship that he had longed for, and if he could follow the duty of a martial artist while doing it so much the better.

He needed to focus on rest and training the two kids, he did not intend to have them be part of the next wave but they would be in the area and it wouldn't hurt to have them able to defend themselves. Nodding to himself he began to see if he could deal with Firo's demand knowing that in the end she would probably get her way and…well he did not really mind it, not anymore.

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hope you enjoyed it, fanboy out.


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